Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: On the first of December, seven-year-old Harry decides to run away from the Dursleys'. This story accompanies him until Christmas. Will he be able to find a new and better home until then? A daily Advent's calendar story. AU, partly OOC, sick!Harry.
1. December 1st

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

**_This will be a daily story with tiny chapters!  
_**

* * *

**December 1st**

Seven-year-old Harry looked at the teacher in expectation as she explained about Advent being the time before Christmas and asked the children if they had their own Advent's calendar at home, causing several children to talk about the Advent's calendars they possessed. Harry listened sadly, knowing that he would never ever receive such a thing. Dudley had one, and in the morning, he had made a big deal of it, showing around the chocolate rabbit that had been hidden behind the number one, before he had inhaled it in one bite.

Finally, the teacher instructed the children to draw a picture about what they imagined about Christmas. "Today, you may take your pictures home to show them to your parents, but you must bring them back here tomorrow, because I'm going to decorate the hall with your pictures," the teacher explained as she handed empty papers to each of them.

Harry happily received the paper and immediately set to work. '_I love to draw_,' he mused as he began to sketch a tall figure.

"Will you put up all our pictures, or only those of the kids who can draw well?" someone asked in a small voice, causing Harry to look up with interest.

Harry couldn't draw well; at least, his drawings had never made it to one of the walls at the Dursleys' home in contrary to Dudley's, which always received a good place at the wall in the living room or the kitchen, even if Harry found that Dudley's pictures normally were not nice.

"All of your pictures will be put onto the wall of course," the teacher replied in a soft voice, and Harry smiled happily as he continued to work.

He was so engrossed in his painting that his little tongue came out of his mouth and eagerly moved over his lips, from the right edge of his mouth to the left and back as he concentrated on drawing himself. Father Christmas was wearing red robes, and he had a long, white beard that was threatening to hit the ground, while Harry was dressed in his favourite jumper among his hand-me-downs. It was red as well, and it was so large that it looked like a one-piece. Finally, Harry put his crayons away and gave the picture an intense look, causing Father Christmas, who was standing in front of Harry's cupboard, from where Harry was looking up at him in expectation, to slowly shake his head.

'_Of course not_,' Harry mused; however, before he even had the time to become sad at the thought, the class was over and the teacher gave him an appreciative nod, already used to the fact that people in Harry's paintings used to make small movements.

"Very well done, Harry," she commented him gently, "although it's a bit sad."

"That's what my Christmas is like," Harry replied in a hardly audible voice and hurriedly left the classroom.

もうすぐクリスマス

Harry eagerly returned home. '_Maybe Aunt Petunia will like it as well, if the teacher said it was good_,' he thought in spite of knowing better. When he reached the kitchen, Petunia was already fawning over Dudley's picture that held a few lines in green, probably representing a Christmas tree, and a whole lot of colourful presents.

"Oh, you're such a good painter, my sweetie," Petunia cooed, pulling Dudley in a bear hug.

"Here is my picture, Aunt Petunia," Harry said shyly, holding his drawing out for his aunt to see.

"Uh, what an ugly picture," Petunia commented, tearing the paper into parts, before Harry even knew what was happening.

"But I have to take it back to the school tomorrow," Harry protested in a small voice, feeling terrified at the sight of his beautiful picture in the waste basket. "The teacher liked it."

"No one likes a freakish picture like yours," Petunia scoffed and sent him into his cupboard.

Harry quietly retired to his cupboard and spent the evening silently crying over the loss of his picture, until he fell into an exhausted sleep. '_I'm going to run away from here_,' was his last thought that ran like a red threat through all of his dreams during that first Advent's night.

_tbc...  
_


	2. December 2nd

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 2nd**

In the morning, all the children but Harry came to the school with their Christmas pictures and with backpacks containing a picnic for the day, which their class was going to spend at the zoo in London. They were dressed in warm winter coats with scarves, hats and gloves. Only Harry arrived empty-handed in his much too large and too thin jeans jacket, which was the only jacket he possessed, since Dudley had not outgrown his winter jacket from last year yet. '_Well, at least it fits him as a jacket now; last year it was like a coat, but Aunt Petunia bought it, because Dudley found it cool and wanted to have it at any price_,' he mused as he observed his cousin mount the bus, before he followed the other children and took the last empty seat, right next to the teacher.

The children strode through the zoo as a large group, all except for Harry, who was slowly staying behind as he quietly looked at the animals, pondering feverishly how and when he was going to run away from home. '_I can either pretend getting lost here at the zoo or just go somewhere after we return to Little Whinging_,' he thought. '_On one hand, it would make it more difficult for them to find me if I got lost here, but on the other hand, I don't want to get the teacher into trouble. She's really nice_.' A small voice at the back of his mind threw in, '_Who would be looking for you? The Dursleys will be glad not to have a freak in their family anymore_.'

Absently, Harry stood behind his classmates, watching the baboons being fed. '_They behave like Dudley_,' he thought, suddenly feeling very cold. Dark clouds were covering the sky, and it looked as if it was going to begin to snow any minute. The class spent nearly an hour watching the baboons, before the teacher led them to a huge picnic spot that was combined with a playground. When his classmates sat down and happily opened their lunch packets, Harry quietly stole himself away, suddenly feeling very hungry.

He walked further on the path, until he came to the next enclosure, smiling as he realised that it held penguins. '_They're funny_,' he mused as he observed the penguins swim and splash in the water.

"Harry, you were supposed to remain with the class," his teacher's voice suddenly penetrated his ears, and he looked up, terrified.

"I'm sorry, Madame," he replied shyly. "I just thought..." He slowly trailed off, averting his eyes to the ground.

"Did your aunt not pack anything to eat for you?" the teacher asked in a much softer voice than before, and Harry slowly shook his head. "Very well then, let's ask the others if they're willing to share with you," the teacher suggested, trying to pull Harry along.

"No," Harry said terrified. "Please don't tell them that my aunt didn't pack anything for me. Dudley and his gang will only terrorize them if they share with me. I don't want anyone to know."

The teacher let out a long sigh. "All right, Harry, let me buy something for you then. Do you like hotdogs?"

Harry looked up at the teacher in disbelief. '_She is going to buy something for me? Apparently, she doesn't know that freaks are not allowed to eat like normal people_.' "I don't know, Madame; I never had a hotdog; but it's all right, I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure, sweetie?" the teacher queried, watching him in concern as they walked back to where the rest of the group were having their picnic.

The class spent the rest of the afternoon in the zoo, observing all kinds of animals, until they finally reached the petting corner. "This is our last stop," the teacher announced. "You may enter the enclosure and pet or feed the animals, but stay nearby please. The exit is just here around the corner, and the bus will come to pick us up outside the exit in thirty minutes."

Behind his classmates, Harry hesitantly entered the petting corner, where a group of sheep was just being fed. '_They're lucky. They must be warm under their thick fur, and they're being fed and petted_,' Harry mused, looking longingly at the herd of sheep as small shivers ran through his body.

All of a sudden, without having the slightest idea how it could have happened, Harry found himself to be a sheep. '_Is it only my imagination, or am I a sheep?_' he mused, looking down at his white fur in disbelief. However, it seemed to be true, and a small smile stole itself on Harry's face as he realised that he felt much warmer now and that he was able to get something to eat. He tried hard not to flinch badly as his classmates came and stroked him, having no idea who he was.

Harry spent the rest of the day playing and cuddling with the other sheep, eating and sleeping, and he felt extremely relaxed because no one was looking at him with an expression of, '_You freak_,' on their faces. However, unfortunately, he had caught a cold being in the zoo only in his light jacket, and he soon began to feel miserable. He noticed that his head hurt, and he couldn't help coughing and sneezing every now and then. '_I'll just sleep for a while and it'll be better_,' he mused as he carefully lay down in a corner and drifted off to sleep, not realising that his classmates were spending three hours at the exit just around the corner, while his teacher was searching for him.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments! I know it's 'Poor Harry', but some things just have to get worse, before they improve...  
_


	3. December 3rd

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 3rd**

In the morning, Harry woke up coughing and sneezing and he felt shivers run along his body in spite of the white fur that was covering his skin. Suddenly, he heard voices right next to him.

"It looks as if the one here was ill," someone said, and the voice sounded concerned.

Harry couldn't help letting out a series of sneezes, and a second voice spoke up. "Probably. Let me check if he's running a temperature, and if so, we have to put him under quarantine; wouldn't want to get the whole flock ill."

Suddenly, Harry felt that something was being stuck in his backside. He squirmed to shake the annoying thing off, causing the man, who had spoken earlier, to give him a light slap and say, "Hold on for a moment. It'll be over soon."

"No," Harry shouted, horrified, and jerked away in a bout of accidental magic, escaping from the man as fast as he could. All of a sudden, he found himself just a few metres away, on the other side of the exit just around the corner. '_I got away_,' he mused in relief, only to notice that the thing that had annoyed him so much still seemed to be stuck in his backside. Terrified, Harry tried to turn all around himself, attempting to somehow reach his backside with his front legs in a vain attempt to pull the thing out that felt so icy cold and icky in his bum. _'I can't let anyone see me like this_,' he thought and dashed towards a group of trees that he could see a few streets away, where he hid in order not to attract any attention.

'_I have to get this thing out_,' he thought as he frantically tried to move in his strange form, writhing over the ground in vain, only achieving to slap his tail against the long thing. '_Ouch, that hurt_,' he thought and slowly began to panic, before he drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

When he woke up, it had lightly begun to snow. He was feeling miserable. His head and his throat were sore, and something was still stuck in his bum. '_What in the world do people stick in sheep's bums?_ _How can I change back into my human form?_' he wondered. '_In my human form I should be able to get it out_.'

To his surprise, he found himself back in his human form in the blink of an eye. His hands immediately wandered to his backside, noticing that his fortunately too large trousers were very baggy where the long stick was still stuck. Unable to get the thing out like that, he struggled to pull his trousers down, feeling very awkward, especially as he was shivering violently from the cold. However, he was finally able to pull the annoying thing out, realising that it looked like the thermometer the school nurse had used on him a few weeks ago. However, she had carefully slid it into his mouth, and it had been much smaller. This one was at least twice as thick and three times as long. '_They were checking if I have a fever_,' he realised, questioningly laying a hand on his forehead that felt just normal to him. '_Maybe I have a fever, because I feel really sick, but I can't do anything about it anyway_,' he mused, longingly remembering the warm bed the nurse had allowed him to sleep in for a few hours while he waited in vain for Petunia to take him home. The nurse had even given him medicine and gently cooled his hot face, something Aunt Petunia had never done for him.

'_Perhaps I should walk through the town and hope that someone helps me_,' he thought and slowly made his way out of the tiny copse. He walked along the busy main road, not realising that people looked at him curiously, wondering why such a small boy was wandering the streets all on his own, carrying a huge thermometer. He walked straight on, passing several huge places and crossing many roads. However, after a while he felt that he couldn't keep himself on his feet anymore, and when he noticed a station a few metres to his right side, he quickly entered the building and gratefully sat down on a bench.

It was very loud in the station. From some of the speakers in the corners, '_Jingle Bells_' continuously flooded the building, on one side of the hall was a television screen, from which a woman's voice told the news, and at the same time, hundreds of people were hurrying by, dragging suitcases along or talking in loud voices. Harry's head was pounding badly, and he felt worse by the minute. However, all of a sudden, something happened that made him forget his illness and leave the station as fast as he could.

The news announcer's voice caught his attention. "Seven-year-old Harry Potter is being missed since he visited the London zoo together with his class yesterday. It is unknown if he separated from his group on his own accord or if he was forced away. Anyone, who can give information on the boy's whereabouts, please contact the next police station. When he was last seen, he was wearing..."

Just when Harry glanced up at the screen, terrified, he saw a picture of himself, standing in front of the baboons. '_Oh no. I had better run away on my way home from school. The Dursleys would have never searched for me_,' he mused as he hurriedly left the station and continued his way along the main road.

'_Maybe smaller streets will be better to hide_,' he mused and slowly dragged himself along a smaller street, intending to look for a park, where he could hide and rest in his sheep form. However, before he could find a likely spot, he noticed two police officers that were approaching him at a fast pace. Panicking, Harry chose the first entrance door he came along. He opened it and stepped into an unknown room, hoping that the policemen hadn't seen him enter the building. '_Where am I?_' he suddenly wondered and glanced around, noticing terrified that he found himself in a strange and fairly dark space. Several people were sitting at a counter drinking things, '_probably alcohol_,' Harry thought.

"Hello little one," a man's voice penetrated his ear. "What are you doing here all on your own? Did you get lost?"

Harry threw the man an anxious look. '_He looks nice, although he is wearing strange clothes_,' he realised. However, he was feeling too bad to keep up appearances and said in a small voice, "I ran away from home, because my relatives hate me. Please don't tell..."

"Are you Harry?" the man suddenly whispered. "Harry Potter?"

"Yeah," Harry replied terrified as a violent shiver shook his body.

"Very well, Harry. I promise not to tell anyone, at least not now. However, I'm going to put you to bed for the moment. You look and sound very sick." With that, the man led Harry to a wooden staircase, which ended on a corridor with many doors. "Come in here, little one. No one will find you here."

Harry hesitantly entered the room and without further looking around stumbled towards the large bed. "May I lie down?" he croaked and scrambled under the covers as soon as the man replied positively.

"I should call a Healer to check on you, but I'm not sure if it would be wise, considering that you're hiding," the man said thoughtfully. "On the other hand, you need medical treatment. I'll ask Lisa, one of my house-elves, to check on you. She has a bit of experience in nursing. Wait a moment, little one."

Harry nestled deep into the covers in a faint attempt to get warm, backing up in fright when a strange creature approached his bed. "Hello Harry, I'm Lisa," she introduced herself, and Harry noticed that she had a very soft voice and a nice smile. "Tom tolds me you is ill. Let's see how bad it is and what we cans dos to helps you. Opens your mouth please."

Harry automatically obeyed, and Lisa quickly coaxed a thermometer under his tongue, instructing him to keep it in place. '_Fortunately, it's smaller than the other one_,' he thought, remembering that he was still carrying the larger stick in the pocket of his jacket. Nevertheless, the glassy stick was icy cold and caused him to shiver violently.

"You has a high fever," Lisa finally said after a glance on the display. "I wills fetch some potions for you." With that, she popped away, only to reappear a few minutes later with several small phials in her hand. "These is Pepperup potion and a fever reducer. You needs to takes both, and then you musts sleeps.

Harry nearly gagged at the taste, but he felt the effects immediately. His body cooled down immensely, and the pain in his throat and head lessened greatly. Seconds later, he drifted off to sleep. When he woke up a few hours later, he noticed that his condition had improved some, although he was still feeling sick. '_Where am I?_' he wondered, '_and why did the friendly man know my name?_' He slowly scrambled out of the bed to look out of the window, feeling small shivers run through his body again as his bare feet touched the cold floor. Through the window, he could see a busy shopping street that seemed to be a pedestrian area and looked very interesting. '_I'd love to look around when I feel better. Everything here looks very strange and intriguing_,' he mused as he returned back to bed, feeling utterly exhausted from being on his feet again for five minutes.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments! Until tomorrow :-)  
_


	4. December 4th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 4th **

Harry neither noticed how many hours passed since he had fallen asleep, nor that Lisa and the kind man entered his room to check on him every now and then. When he woke up in the morning, he felt even worse than on the day before. After a few minutes, Tom and the elf entered his room, and the man pulled the only chair in the room to his bedside.

"Harry, I am sorry for not introducing myself to you yesterday," the man began to speak quietly. "I am Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, which is a wizarding tavern and the entrance to Diagon Alley, the wizarding shopping street, at the same time..."

"Wizarding?" Harry asked in confusion, looking questioningly from Tom to Lisa.

"Yes Harry, didn't your relatives tell you about the magical world? You're a wizard, just like me, and your parents were a witch and a wizard as well," Tom explained gently.

"But that can't be," Harry stammered in disbelief. "I'm just Harry, a good-for-nothing freak and a burden. I can't be a wizard."

"If your relatives taught you that nonsense, I can understand why you ran away. No Harry, I'm sure that you're a wizard, and probably even a very powerful one, considering who your parents were," Tom reassured him, while Lisa switched the thermometer on and motioned Harry to take it under his tongue once again.

"How gig you kow who I ag?" Harry queried around the thermometer, causing Lisa to throw him a disapproving look and make sure the device was still at its correct position.

"I knew your parents well, and you look like the spitting image of your father," Tom replied, throwing Lisa a questioning look as the thermometer beeped.

"Thirty-eight point eight, Master Tom; it's still high," Lisa informed him promptly.

"Harry, how do you feel?" Tom enquired, giving the boy a sharp look.

"A bit better," Harry replied, feeling very uncomfortable at the attention and the questions.

"Very well then. Lisa will bring you some soup and give you something for the fever, and then I want you to go back to sleep. We'll see if your fever comes down by tomorrow morning. If not, I have to call a Healer or take you to St. Mungo's, the magical hospital. Try to rest for a while, Harry. We'll come and check on you from time to time."

An instant later, Lisa popped in with a bowl of soup. "Is you feelings well enough to eat at the table?" she asked softly.

"I'm not hungry," Harry mumbled, sighing in relief when the elf handed him a phial with the fever reducer. Feeling his body cool down a bit, Harry slowly made his way to the table and ate a few spoonfuls of the soup, before he went back to bed and slept until Lisa woke him up to check on him the next time. Harry remained in bed, noticing that in spite of all the potions he had been given he felt worse by the hour. Not only his throat but also his chest was becoming incredibly sore, and he developed a bad cough. His ears felt stuffed up, and each time he tried to get out of bed he felt dizzier. Every few hours, Lisa came and gave him more potions, noticing that they seemed to only help so much. She came even in the middle of the night.

"I is sorry for waking yous up, Master Harry, but I wants to checks on you once more," the elf whispered as she placed a cold hand on his forehead. "The Daily Prophet says that the magical world is lookings for you, and someone wills probably recognise you if we take you to the wizarding hospital. I is worried what wills happens, and I think I should gives you another potion."

"All right," Harry mumbled sleepily and obediently gulped down the potion Lisa held out for him. As soon as the elf popped away, announcing that she and Tom would come early in the morning to check on him, Harry curled up under the covers and tried to go back to sleep; however, everything that Lisa and Tom had told him earlier pushed itself to the front of his mind, and Harry couldn't sleep anymore. '_I am a wizard_,' he mused. '_Is that really true? Maybe Tom just mistook me for someone else. But he said I looked like my father. Maybe all the freakish things I did were magic. But why did Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia tell me there was no such thing like magic?_' Finally giving up on finding an answer to his questions or managing to go back to sleep, he scrambled out of the warm and comfortable bed and spent the last few hours until the early morning sitting on the window sill, looking out onto Diagon Alley that was just about to wake up from its nightly stupor.

Suddenly, the painting right opposite of the window sill caught his eyes. A man and a woman were sitting at a table playing a game. '_Is that chess?_' Harry mused. Other children at his school sometimes played chess during lunch break, but no one ever wanted to play with him. '_It's a bit strange though, and the people in the painting are moving, just like in my own drawings_,' he thought happily. '_That must be magic_,' he realised in absolute amazement. '_Tom was right. I'm a wizard_.'

He stepped in front of the painting, backing up in shock, when the woman suddenly looked up from her game and said, "Hello little one."

"Hello," Harry said shyly. "Excuse me, Madame, is that chess?"

"That's wizard's chess," the witch replied kindly, giving him a sharp look. "You should go back to bed and rest though. You don't look good."

"She is right, little one. Thank you for distracting my wife enough to lose the game though. Check mate," the wizard, who was sitting opposite the kind lady, said, chuckling.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Harry said hoarsely and dragged himself back to bed.

'_I don't want anyone to take me back to the Dursleys_,' he mused, terrified at the thought. '_I like this 'magical world' as Tom called it, and I want to remain in this world. I hope my fever came down. Somehow I don't think so though. I don't feel any better. But I can't have them take me to the hospital, where people might know me and take me back to my relatives_._ I have to leave, before they check on me and decide to take me there_,' he decided and quickly changed back from the pyjamas Tom had conjured for him the previous day into Dudley's hand-me-downs. As quickly as his weakened condition allowed it, he stole himself downstairs and left the building through the back door, noticing terrified how cold it was, especially since it had snowed a lot over night and wasn't even light yet.

_tbc..._

_Thanks to the kind readers who reviewed - I really appreciate it!_


	5. December 5th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 5th**

"Where do you think you're going?" Lisa's voice suddenly penetrated Harry's ears as the small elf popped up right next to him, and he felt himself being popped back into his room.

"I don't want to be taken to the hospital," Harry croaked, letting out a few harsh coughs.

"Do you think running away would make you feel better?" Lisa asked, and Harry realised from her tone that she seemed to be very angry. "I promise that we won't take you to the hospital today. We can wait to see if you get better by tomorrow morning. But you have to promise to stay in bed and rest today."

"Okay," Harry agreed, gratefully letting himself sink back onto the soft bed.

Unfortunately, his condition did not improve at all, and by the evening, Tom decided that they had to consult a Healer. "We'll contact St. Mungo's and try to find a Healer, who is willing to come here in the morning," he promised after checking on the child.

もうすぐクリスマス

At Hogwarts, the professors and a few students, who had remained at the school over the winter holidays, met in the Great Hall for breakfast. The Headmaster was already sitting at the Head table, completely engrossed in the newspaper. Suddenly, McGonagall's eyes fell on the headline of the Daily Prophet that the Headmaster was just reading.

'_Harry Potter Missing_,' it read in bolt letters. '_Harry Potter vanished from a school trip to the London zoo without a trace. Continued on page 5_.'

The professor let out a huge gasp. "Albus, did you see the article about Harry? Is it true that he is missing?"

The Headmaster looked over the edges of his half-moon spectacles and said in a grave voice, "I fear that it is, Minerva. However, I only knew about it from the Daily Prophet. Maybe I should pay the Dursleys a visit and enquire about the circumstances." He turned to the Potions Master. "Severus, would you perhaps be willing to make a short trip to Little Whinging to check on the boy?"

Snape proficiently schooled his face to an expressionless mask to hide his emotions. "Very well," he grudgingly agreed, ignoring the small voice at the back of his mind that screamed, '_Why would I need to check on Potter's offspring_?'

"Do you want me to accompany you, Severus?" McGonagall asked softly.

"I'd appreciate it," Snape replied in his soft baritone voice, throwing his older colleague a grateful look.

Together they took the Floo to Arabella Figg's place and quickly crossed the small street towards the Dursleys' residence. Snape firmly pressed the bell, causing Lily's sister, whom McGonagall and Snape both remembered from the time Lily was alive, to open the door and look at them with clear displeasure.

"What do you want?" she hissed. "You should know from the media that the freak is gone."

"Petunia, wouldn't it be wise to lead this conversation inside?" Snape queried in a quiet voice, raising an eyebrow at the woman.

"Very well," she replied in an annoyed voice, grudgingly leading the two teachers into the living room. "Anyway, we don't want to have anything to do with your world anymore. We're more than grateful that the little urchin managed to get lost," she hissed. "He was such a nuisance with his freakishness."

"Harry is definitely not a freak. I knew him well when he was small, and he is a wonderful little boy," McGonagall replied in shock at the words coming from the sister of Lily, who had been one of the kindest witches she had ever known.

"You can be glad Lily isn't alive anymore. She was a Mistress of Charms, and I'd love to know what she'd do with you if she heard you talk like that," Snape drawled, threateningly sliding his right hand into his robe pocket, gripping his wand. "So you have no idea where he is?" he queried, just to be sure.

"Of course not. He got lost at the zoo, not in his cupboard," Petunia replied angrily, causing the two teachers to throw her confused looks.

"What do you mean by 'his cupboard', Petunia?" McGonagall queried in disbelief.

"Since we don't have enough bedrooms, he was living in the cupboard under the stairs," Petunia explained and rose from her seat, apparently hoping to get rid of her unpleasant visitors soon.

"How many bedrooms do you have here?" Snape asked in surprise, glancing around with interest.

"Four, but we need one bedroom for my sister-in-law, who comes to visit every now and then, my husband and I have a bedroom, and Dudley has a bedroom and a playroom," Petunia replied, glaring at the visitors. "I don't know why that would be your concern though. If you're so concerned about the brat, you should try to raise that nuisance by yourselves."

"Be sure we'll do that in the future," McGonagall replied firmly. "Come Severus, let's leave this place."

Snape was glad to follow the older witch out of the house, resisting the temptation to wave his wand in front of the small cupboard, knowing that probably they would have to come back to gain the guardianship from the Muggles, provided that the boy would be found at all. '_I'll make sure to cast an appropriate charm on the house then_,' he resolved, and a smirk appeared on his lips as they walked back to Mrs. Figg's house.

"What is so funny, Severus?" McGonagall wanted to know, throwing him an exasperated look.

"Oh nothing; I was merely envisioning how Petunia would react to the Charm I intend to cast when we come back to receive her signature on the guardianship parchments," Snape replied evenly.

McGonagall let out a snort. "Do you believe Albus will give in and let one of us gain the guardianship over Harry? After leaving him with that horrid family for six years?"

"If not, I'll think of a different charm," Snape promised with a mischievous expression on his face. "First of all, we have to find the child though."

_tbc..._


	6. December 6th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 6th  
**

In the morning, Harry felt miserable enough to know that he had to leave in order not to risk being taken to the hospital or have a Healer come over. He glanced at the portrait of the witch and the wizard, who were playing wizard's chess, but they were both still asleep. '_They're very nice_,' Harry thought sadly as he silently left the room and traipsed downstairs. Fortunately, this time no one took notice of him, although a group of people were just leaving the Leaky Cauldron towards the back just like him. He unobtrusively mixed into the group and observed in amazement how a man pointed a stick at the wall and tapped certain blocks, causing the wall to form a huge door. '_Magic is absolutely fascinating. I'm lucky that there are other people though. I wouldn't have known how to get out of here. They must all be witches and wizards_,' he thought as he slowly followed the group out into Diagon Alley.

The other people quickly went their way, and soon, Harry found himself alone on the street, realising that the shops were still closed at that time of the morning. '_I wonder if I'll be able to turn into a sheep again_,' he mused, knowing that he'd feel much warmer under the sheep's fur. He turned around the corner and stepped into a small side street, where he quickly changed back into a sheep, sighing in relief as he felt the warm fur shield him from the ice-cold wind. He dragged himself along the streets for a while, admiring the Christmas decorations in the windows.

'_These shops look very different from normal shops. It's really interesting here_,' he thought happily and continued his stroll, until the shops opened and he noticed that it slowly became crowded. '_A sheep in the middle of the town is probably not normal, so I better change back into my human form. I don't want to attract any attention_,' he thought and quickly transformed back, only to regret it as soon as he felt the cold wind and the snowflakes on his flushed face. Shivering violently, he slowly walked along the main street, looking at the shops from outside in order to find some place to go, where it was warmer.

'_Magical people all seem to wear the strange clothes Tom was wearing_,' he realised, glancing at the wizards and witches, who were hurrying along the street. '_They seem warmer than my jacket, but there is no way I could get such nice clothes_,' he thought sadly, before an idea crossed his mind. '_Wait, if I'm a wizard, I should be able to do magic_,' he suddenly pondered. '_I could try to make my jacket warmer_.' Having no idea how to cast magic spells, he looked down at his jacket and wished it to become warmer, noticing excitedly that his wish seemed to have worked just a little bit. He carefully let his fingers wander over the fabric, only to realise in exasperation that the right sleeve was much warmer now than the left. However, he couldn't muster the energy to try changing his left sleeve as well.

When he arrived in front of a huge white building with the inscription 'Gringotts', he nearly stumbled when something rolled in front of his feet. Looking down, he saw that it was a ball that apparently belonged to a group of children, who were playing catch ball in front of the building.

"Here," a boy of about Harry's age shouted and motioned for Harry to throw the ball back.

"Come, play with us. Are your parents at Gringotts too?" a girl spoke up, smiling at him.

"Gringotts is very crowded at that time of the year," another boy, who seemed to be a couple of years older than Harry, explained.

Harry observed the children in disbelief. '_They want me to play with them?_' he mused in surprise but automatically caught the ball when it came straight into his direction.

Completely forgetting about feeling cold and unwell, Harry played with the other children for a while, until each of them had been collected by their parents and he remained alone. '_These children were very nice_,' he mused as he slowly resumed his walk through the shopping street. '_Maybe magical people are all nicer than non magical people. No one laughed at my much too large clothes, although I was the only one, who was wearing non magical clothes. They didn't even make fun of me because I'm not good at playing ball._'

Finally, he arrived in front of the bookshop and was just about to let himself sink onto the steps in front of the entrance door to rest for a while, when he saw that there were benches in the shop, where people were sitting and looking at books. He hesitantly entered Flourish and Blotts and looked at the bookshelves with interest that soon turned into amazement as he noticed that all the books were about magic.

Harry spent a few hours sitting on the bench in the bookshop reading children's books, before he noticed that he became too dizzy and the letters were beginning to jump up and down in their lines. He placed the book he was just reading back and sat down again, resting his achy head against the closest shelf. He remained in that position for a long time, before he suddenly noticed that a middle aged woman was staring at him in disbelief.

'_Oh no, I can't have anyone recognise me_,' he mused, terrified, and scrambled away, quickly shielding himself from her sharp look behind the next shelf. '_I have to get out of here_,' he thought and made his way towards the door as fast as his achy body allowed it.

As soon as Harry stepped out into Diagon Alley, he remembered that he had entered the bookshop because of the cold outside. He was shivering violently. '_I'll just change back into my sheep form_,' he decided and transformed back, sighing in relief as he felt the warm fur shielding him just a little bit from the snow.

Feeling dizzy and absolutely miserable, he decided to search for a place to sleep and finally found a spot at the backside of a shop in a half-open cupboard that was full with brooms and balls of several sizes. '_This one has wings, or is it only my imagination because of the fever?_' Harry wondered, trying in vain to cradle the ball close with his front legs as he let himself sink to the floor in exhaustion. '_I've never seen such a pretty ball before_,' was his last thought as he drifted off to sleep, unaware of the fact that the owner of Quality Quidditch Supplies came shortly afterwards to lock the cupboard as he closed his shop for the night.

It didn't take long, before Harry was captured in fevered dreams; however, his nightmares about his abusive uncle were soon replaced by wonderful dreams about the magical world and sheep flying on brooms together with reindeers and Santa Clause. Harry smiled happily as he slept, unaware of the fact that many miles in the north, two professors were fighting with an old Headmaster, discussing his own future and fate.

_tbc..._

_Yes, I know, it wasn't nice of me to allow Harry to run away from Tom and Lisa. However, I want to give Harry the chance to explore the magical world on his own for a while - and let me assure you, he is going to meet more friendly people. Severus and Minerva will be in the story as well; however, Severus will only bring Harry to Hogwarts in about a week! Thank you for reading and reviewing!_


	7. December 7th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 7th  
**

When Harry woke up, he was completely surrounded by darkness. Not even the faintest bit of light penetrated the broom cupboard that he had chosen to spend the night in. '_Oh right, I'm in a broom cupboard_,' Harry remembered, and immediately, his thoughts returned to the wonderful ball he had seen before falling asleep. '_I'll change into my human form and examine the ball. Maybe I can even open the door and get out of here_,' he decided and quickly changed back, noticing that he could manage to change faster each time.

'_It's so dark here_,' he thought as he tried to scramble onto his feet. However, in spite of the darkness he suddenly saw colourful stars appear in front of his eyes, before everything turned dark again and he felt himself fall down onto the brooms that were leaning next to the spot where he had spent the night. '_What were these stars?_' he mused as his mind turned back to a foggy consciousness. '_I should return to Tom and Lisa and get their help_,' a voice at the back of his mind spoke up. '_If someone sends me back to my relatives, I can still run away again, but at least I'll be feeling better by then_.' Harry sighed, deciding to ignore the voice for the time being.

'_I must find the door and get out of here_,' he thought. '_Maybe I'll feel better if I can see my hand in front of my eyes_.' He robbed himself over to where he thought the door had been, feverishly feeling for a handle. However, all he could feel were brooms. Suddenly, he held something smaller in his hands, realising excitedly that he could nearly close his hands around the thing. '_The ball_,' he realised happily, '_and it really has wings_.' He carefully stroked the ball's soft wings that gently flapped up and down at his touch.

Harry happily cradled the tiny ball close, suddenly jerking back in shock as the door that was at the other side of the cupboard opened with a small thud. Fortunately, no one entered the cupboard, and Harry sighed in relief as heard the person, who had obviously opened the door, walk back to the shop. '_I have to get out of here_,' he thought and, sliding the ball into the pocket of his jeans jacket that still held the huge sheep thermometer, he changed back into his sheep form and left the cupboard. '_It was a good place to spend the night_,' he thought, before he entered Diagon Alley that was still fairly deserted at that time of the morning.

Feeling too bad to move around, he curled up at the side of the street, drifting off into an exhausted sleep. By the time he woke up, the street was as crowded as usual, and Harry noticed that everyone was looking at him. '_Oh no_,' he groaned, '_so much about not attracting attention_.' He scrambled onto his feet and dragged himself into a small side street, where he changed back into his human form, safe from curious looks by a small wall.

'_I'm going to freeze and become a block of ice_,' he mused as he slowly trailed further into the street, glad that he could manage to hold himself upright even in his human form. '_Knockturn Alley_,' the road sign said, and Harry noticed immediately that everything seemed much darker and narrower here than in Diagon Alley. Even the Christmas decorations he had admired in the windows of the shops at Diagon Alley were missing here. '_Maybe it'll be safer if it's darker, because people won't recognise me as easily_,' he thought as he sat on the steps in front of what seemed to be a strange shop. It held many mysteriously looking objects in the window, of which Harry couldn't make heads or tails.

"Oh sweetie, what are you doing here in the snow all on your own?" a soft voice suddenly penetrated his ears. "Are you together with someone?"

Harry hesitantly turned his eyes to get a better look at the woman that was leaning down to him. "No Madame, I'm alone, and I just wanted to rest for a bit," he replied hoarsely.

"Believe me, this is not a place for a small one to hang out. Come with me; I'll take you back to Diagon Alley, and we'll see what we can do to warm you up a bit."

Harry hesitantly followed the older witch back into the much brighter main street of the wizarding shopping area. The woman led him into the other direction from the Leaky Cauldron but turned right at the end of the street into a small side street, only to enter a shabby house right around the corner. "Come in and have some tea," she invited Harry, who felt too miserable to resist the invitation. '_Do not go with strangers_,' he suddenly remembered his school teacher's words; however, so far, the magical world seemed so nice and friendly and his wish to seek help made him dismiss the thought immediately.

Harry followed the kind lady into what seemed to be a small living room that was built around a small fireplace. The walls were covered with bookshelves that were filled with hundreds of old tomes.

"Now sweetie, can you tell me what you're doing here all on your own?" the witch asked kindly. "Where are your parents?"

"I ran away from my relatives, because they hate me," Harry replied truthfully, realising that his voice was about to fail completely.

"And running around in your much too thin Muggle clothes you caught a bad cold," the witch said reproachfully, shaking her head as she skimmed a drawer within the bookshelf, pulling a small phial out. "Well, you're lucky that I have a Pepperup potion left. Here, drink it all. Don't dwell on the taste. It isn't delicious, but it'll help." She pressed the phial against Harry's lips, causing him to swallow the lime green liquid, frowning at the strange sensation the potion caused in his body. '_What's that? Is that poison?_' he mused, throwing the older woman a frightened look as she began to laugh softly.

"Don't be afraid, little one," the woman said softly. "That's what Pepperup potion does to you. The steam will continue coming out of your ears for a few minutes, but you'll feel better afterwards."

However, no steam came out of his ears, but before Harry even noticed about it, he succumbed to the potion and drifted off to sleep, feeling better than he had felt in days.

_tbc..._

_Thank you for your encouragement - hope you enjoyed Harry being taken care of for once :-)_


	8. December 8th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 8th **

When Harry's mind slowly drifted back to awareness, he found himself lying on a sofa, covered by an immensely warm blanket. The kind witch, who had taken him into her home the previous day, was sitting on the edge of the sofa.

"Good morning, sweetie. Are you feeling a bit better?"

"Yes, I don't feel as cold anymore," Harry admitted in a small voice.

"I'm sorry; I accidentally gave you the potion for the wizard's flu instead of a Pepperup potion; that's why it made you so sleepy. At least it seems to have brought your fever down a little bit. It was extremely high last night."

"Thank you," Harry mumbled gratefully, noticing that he still felt miserable.

"Now sweetie, I don't know if you're used to magic, but I'm going to transfigure your clothes into magical clothes, which are warmer and more appropriate at this time of the year. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes, thank you, Madame," Harry said gratefully, noticing that his voice had come back just a little bit.

He anxiously watched as the witch pointed her wand at him and changed his much too large hand-me-downs into dark blue trousers and a green polo neck jumper. The jumper felt very soft and cuddly, and Harry threw the witch a grateful look. "Thank you so much, Madame," he said thankfully. "This jumper is absolutely nice."

"I'm glad you like it. I'm used to transfiguring clothes, because I am the owner of the wizarding robe shop, '_Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_.' I don't know if you have heard of it," the witch replied, smiling as Harry shook his head, and motioned him to drink a warm cup of milk laced with honey and eat a buttered scone with it, while she transfigured his light jeans jacket into long winter robes.

'_They look very warm_,' Harry thought happily as he hesitantly touched the black fabric on the chair next to him.

When he finished his milk and scone, noticing that his appetite had returned just a little bit, the witch offered him to stay and sleep for a little more until he was completely back to health, but Harry declined the kind offer, afraid that she might finally recognise him. He slowly returned to the street, burying deep in his mind that he had been told he could come back at anytime if he felt hungry or sick again.

'_Now I look like a wiz_ard,' he mused, chuckling inwardly as he strode through Diagon Alley and back, wondering where he should go when a sudden thought struck his mind. He hurriedly slid his hand into his robe pocket, sighing in relief as he felt that everything he had been collecting in his jeans pocket had been transferred into his robe pocket. '_Well, it's not as if I was going to use the sheep thermometer, but I just love this ball_,' he mused, closing his hand as far as he could around the Snitch. As he slightly pulled the ball out of his robe pocket to get a better look at it, he noticed in surprise that it was golden and had indeed wings, which it began to flap as soon as Harry loosened his grip. '_Oh no, I won't have you fly away_,' he thought instinctively and pushed the thing further back in his pocket.

To his surprise, it had snowed a lot overnight, and when he passed in front of Gringotts, several children were busying themselves building a snowman. '_It must be fun to build a snowman here. I wonder if they'd mind me joining them_,' he mused, unsurely lingering nearby.

"Come and help," a red-haired girl invited him, smiling at him.

"Thank you," Harry said happily and eagerly helped the children build their snowman. Just as on the previous day, one by one the children were picked up by their parents, while other children came to join them. Even if they didn't know each other, everyone was happily playing together. Harry couldn't remember having so much fun ever before.

However, if he had thought that his condition had, even if only slightly, improved by the medicine he had been given, he realised soon that he felt nearly as bad as on the previous day. He waved the other children good-bye and walked a few metres away, before he transformed back into his sheep form, knowing that he felt warmer and not as dizzy if he was an animal. Feeling too miserable to care about being stared at, Harry slowly dragged himself through Diagon Alley, until he reached the bookshop, where he stopped dead in his tracks.

Right in front of the bookshop, several men were putting up a huge Christmas tree. '_I've never seen such a large Christmas tree_,' Harry thought in awe as he curled up next to a small wall and watched a few women come and wave their wands at the tree as soon as the men had finished putting it up. During the following hours, the women charmed the tree. They added small stars and reindeers as well as bubbling pots that let out new bubbles, which turned into letters, shouting '_Happy Christmas to the magical world_' into the street.

'_I love being here_,' Harry mused happily. '_The magical world is just wonderful, and the people are so nice here. If I only felt better_,' he thought as he drifted off to fevered dreams about sheep that were building snowmen and juggling Snitches.

_tbc..._

_Thank you very much for your kind comments! Sorry for those in Japan and Australia for posting so late today. In case that I won't be able tomorrow or during the next time due to health problems, I promise to post any missing chapters as soon as possible.  
_


	9. December 9th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 9th**

Harry spent most of the day drifting between a foggy awareness and unconsciousness. Hidden from the busy Alley by a small stone wall, he remained in his sheep form, coughing, sneezing and lightly moaning the whole day. '_I need help_,' he suddenly realised, noticing that the world kept spinning around even in his sheep form. '_Probably I have a high fever. I should return to Tom and Lisa and ask them for more medicine. Maybe they'll agree to not bring me to the hospital_,' he thought in desperation. '_No_,' he decided when suddenly another thought penetrated his mind. '_Maybe it's not because of the fever. I'll check that and then I'll try to get into the apothecary. Maybe they have some medicine they don't need anymore, because it's too old or such, or perhaps I can do some chores to earn myself the medicine_.'

With that thought in mind, he returned to the cupboard behind Quality Quidditch Supplies, gratefully noticing that the door stood open just like on the previous day. He carefully made his way through the broom cupboard to the corner farthest from the door and changed into his human form. He pulled the sheep thermometer out of his robe pocket, realising that it was a very old one just like the one the school nurse used. He shook the glassy stick, until the blue line had gone down as far as possible, and wiped the business end with his hand a few times in order to clean it a bit as he remembered that it had been stuck in his bum when he was a sheep. Sighing, he placed the long stick under his tongue and waited patiently for a few minutes.

'_I hate that_,' he finally thought and hurriedly pulled the thing out, trying to look at the reading. However, the figures next to the blue line, which he could faintly recognise, were jumping up and down, confusing him so much that he couldn't figure out the result. '_It's far above the red line, which the school nurse said is supposed to be at thirty-seven anyway_,' he thought and decided to go and get a look at the apothecary.

Harry slowly made his way to the apothecary, glad that it wasn't far from where he was. He had already passed in front of it a few times. Luckily, the shop was completely void of customers. Harry hesitantly stepped in front of the middle aged man, who appeared behind the counter as he heard him enter the shop.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir," Harry said hoarsely. "I need a fever reducing potion, but I don't have any money. Do you have any chores I could do for you in order to earn myself the medicine?"

Mr. Rodney, the shop owner, gave Harry a sharp look, realising that the boy was looking pleadingly from glassy eyes that were surrounded by dark rings. On the first glance the man saw that the child was ill with a high fever and at least a bad cold if not worse.

"I'm afraid you're in no condition to do chores, are you?" he queried, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"I am, sir. Please, I'll do whatever you need me to do. I'm used to working to earn my keep," Harry croaked desperately.

"Can you scrub dirty cauldrons?" Rodney asked in disbelief.

"Of course sir," Harry replied as eager as he could.

"Where are your parents? Why do they allow you to run around here in your condition?"

"I live with my relatives, and they're Muggles. They don't care," Harry explained, proudly using the word he had learned from Lisa.

"All right then, follow me." Rodney led the boy into his potions lab, where at least a dozen dirty cauldrons were piled on a sink. "Normally, I clean everything with magic, but there are always certain potions that use to remain in the cauldrons. Go on and try your luck."

"Yes sir," Harry said eagerly, hoping that his voice wasn't going to fail completely. He immediately said to work. He was used to cleaning things, even if he was sick.

Apparently noticing that he could hardly keep himself on his feet, Mr. Rodney pulled a chair over and motioned for Harry to sit down. '_Thank God_,' Harry thought and did his work with skilled hands.

"You did that very well," the apothecary commended him in surprise when Harry was finished. "I believe that you need more than just a fever reducer though. Anyway, I'm going to give you two phials. Take one now and the next dose in the morning. If your fever still doesn't come down after that, you need to see a Healer," he said friendly. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir. Is there anything else I could do?" Harry asked hesitantly. '_Working here is so much better than running around the street_,' he thought, throwing the kind man a pleading look.

"Have you ever brewed potions before?" the man queried, giving him a sharp look.

"No sir, but I can cook," Harry replied in a small voice.

"Very well then," Mr. Rodney said thoughtfully, "you may help prepare the ingredients for the wizard's flu potion, and I'll give you two doses of the flu potion. I suggest that you take the first dose right away, together with the fever reducer. However, when you're finished preparing the ingredients, you need to leave. I'm not allowed to let children work here."

"Yes sir," Harry agreed in a hardly audible voice. '_That's a pity. He seems to be very nice, and I'd love to work here_,' he thought as he began to cut the ingredients according to a recipe that the man had laid out for him, feeling remarkably better after sipping the potions.

"You're very adept at preparing ingredients," Rodney commended him. "How old are you? You aren't a Hogwarts student yet, are you?"

'_Hogwarts?_' Harry wondered but decided not to ask questions. "No sir. I'm seven."

"I'm impressed. Oh well, take care of yourself, and I hope you'll feel better soon. Come back to me if you need help. I can use someone as skilled as you at any time."

"Thank you," Harry replied shyly, feeling very happy at the unexpected praise. "I'd love to help you again. This was much fun." He slowly stepped out into the crowded street. '_These potions really helped; thank God that I've another dose left for tomorrow morning_,' he thought. Stepping into a small side street, he changed into his sheep form and returned to his spot near Flourish and Blotts, from where he could observe the Christmas tree. '_I need to return to the broom shed_,' he thought; however, as soon as he took a small rest in front of the bookshop, he succumbed to the effects of the potions and drifted off to sleep with a small smile playing on his lips.

_tbc..._

_Thank you!_


	10. December 10th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December10th**

By the time Harry woke up, Diagon Alley was lying in the dark, except for the candles on the Christmas tree. '_The tree is absolutely gorgeous. It would be nice though if there was snow on the branches_,' Harry thought, when an idea pushed itself in front of his mind. He transformed into his human form and intensely looked at the huge tree in front of him. All of a sudden, it began to snow just above the tree. The fluffy white mass came to lie on the branches, but not a single snow flake fell down to touch the ground. '_That's much better_,' Harry decided, looking at his work contentedly.

'_Maybe I can make some more changes to make the tree look better_,' he pondered, feeling very reassured by his success. He once more looked intensely at the branches and added a few plush cats in different colours that began to run over the branches, playfully trying to catch each other. Chuckling, Harry observed them play, not even aware of the cold night air that surrounded him. '_Why did the women yesterday use wands to decorate the tree? It even works just by looking at it_,' he wondered.

Seeing that no other people were around and he could do with the huge Christmas tree as he pleased, he added a white ball like the one in his robe pocket, making it fly around the tree, flapping it golden wings. '_I can do magic_,' he thought, feeling extremely happy. Next to the cauldrons that were already placed on the branches, he added more cauldrons and made colourful ingredients fly into them only to make them explode to beautiful fireworks.

Finally, Harry felt totally drained and let himself sink back on the ground behind the small stone wall, barely having the energy to change into his sheep form. '_Magic is very tiring_,' was his last thought, before he drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

もうすぐクリスマス

The professors looked incredulously at the front page of the Daily Prophet that displayed a huge picture of the Christmas tree in front of Flourish and Blotts in London.

"Someone has been playing a prank on the Christmas tree?" Professor Flitwick read in disbelief. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Excuse me, but what is wrong with the tree at all?" Severus sneered, looking sharply at his copy of the newspaper.

"You mean whoever charmed it did very well because there are so many cauldrons on it?" Minerva queried. "I like the cats though."

"The person, who played the prank, if that's a prank at all, did very well indeed," Professor Flitwick admitted.

"No information about the whereabouts of Harry though," the Headmaster threw in. "If they need to put the Christmas tree on the front page, it's a clear sign that they don't have any important news."

"That's true," Severus had to admit, before he lost himself in thoughts. '_I'm sorry, Lily. I know that I promised you to keep your son safe; however, this really is beyond my capabilities. I'll try to find him though, and Minerva and I will try to take him away from Petunia. She is as horrible as she was when we were small. I'm really sorry for your child_.'

'_It's not your fault_,' Lily's soft voice penetrated his mind. '_If Dumbledore insisted on completely ignoring our will and sent Harry to my sister, there was nothing you could do about it, Sev. But please try to find him and save him from Petunia and her horrible husband. I know that they won't treat him well. You know as well as I that Petunia always hated magic_.'

'_I'll try to do my best, Lily_,' Severus replied, wondering where he would have gone if he had had the courage to run away from his abusive father when he was seven years old. '_Oh well, I'd probably have gone to Diagon Alley or to one of the smaller wizarding towns and tried to find a job at one of the apothecaries_,' he mused. '_However, I don't know if Potter is as adept at brewing or if he is even aware of the fact that he is a wizard. Nevertheless, I'll go to Diagon Alley after the last afternoon class. I need to buy a few potions ingredients anyway, and maybe Rodney has seen him. His sharp eyes would notice such a small boy straying the streets all on his own, especially since parents in the wizarding take better care of their children than Muggles_.'

He absentmindedly brought his hands to his temples to massage them in a faint attempt to get rid of the headache that had been pestering him since his last afternoon class on the previous day.

"Severus!" He looked up startled, realising that his colleagues were looking at him in concern. "Severus, are you feeling all right?" Minerva asked worriedly and, before he could even reply, placed a cold hand on his forehead. "Poppy, I think he feels very warm to the touch," she turned to the Mediwitch.

"I'm fine," Severus growled. "I was just thinking about something."

"Severus, you don't look fine," Madam Pomfrey said worriedly. "Please accompany me to my office for a quick check-up. If you're fine, you'll be right in time for the first morning class."

"No way, Poppy," Severus gave back, although he had to admit to himself that he wasn't feeling overly well.

"Severus, do as Poppy says. If Harry doesn't show up within the next twenty-four hours, I need all of you to spend the weekend looking for him. We can't have you get sick then," the Headmaster said firmly, causing Severus to inwardly groan in annoyance.

'_But I can get sick now and miss my classes?_' Severus thought in disbelief, before he grudgingly rose from his chair and looked at the Healer. "If you insist on keeping me from my work, then let's get over with it quickly," he sneered and strode out of the Great Hall with his robes billowing behind him.

Unfortunately, he had to slow down his pace when he climbed up the stairs, noticing terrified that he had problems to breathe. And to make his discomfort perfect, Pomfrey caught up with him eyeing him with a knowing look. She gently motioned for him to take a seat on the sofa in her office, knowing from experience that he wouldn't allow her to examine him on a bed.

"Please make it short, Poppy. I have a class to teach," Severus said impatiently, adding to himself, '_and to make a trip to Diagon Alley right after the last class_.' He unconsciously leaned his achy head against the nearby potions shelf, while his colleague began to wave his wand over him.

"Severus, you caught some kind of Muggle flu, probably when you went to see the Dursleys the other day," Pomfrey said worriedly, pointing her wand at his head. "No," she raised her left hand to stop Severus, who was just beginning to protest, "don't tell me that you're fine. You have a fever of thirty-nine degrees. Come with me."

"What about Minerva?" Severus asked, suddenly feeling too bad to resist the energetic Healer, who led him into the hospital wing, motioning for him to lie down on the bed next to her office. "She was with me all the time."

"I'll check on her during lunchtime," Pomfrey replied thoughtfully, putting up a screen around his bed. With a flick of her wand, she transfigured the Potions Master's clothes into soft pyjamas and made him drink a few potions, grinning as he drifted off to sleep in the blink of an eye.

While Madam Pomfrey put both teachers to bed, who had caught the Muggle flu from his relatives, Harry slept through the whole day due to his illness and magical exhaustion, safe from everyone's view by a stone wall and the snow that was slowly covering the sheep's white fur.

_tbc..._

_Thank you for your kind comments!_


	11. December 11th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December11th**

Minerva woke up to Severus' coughing, noticing that she felt much worse than on the day before. '_If we caught this from the Dursleys, maybe Harry is sick as well_,' she thought in concern, absentmindedly registering that Poppy pointed her wand at her forehead.

"Poppy, please let me go. I have to search for Harry," she said hoarsely, realising that her throat was very sore.

"You may go and look for him next week," Poppy said softly. "You're going to remain here for at least three more days. Potions only work so much for the Muggle flu."

"Poppy, what if Harry is sick as well?" Minerva asked in concern. "Severus and I want to..."

"Severus and you are both very ill," the Healer replied sternly, "and if I catch one of you with as much as a foot out of your bed, you'll be in trouble." Sighing in exasperation, she unobtrusively spelled several potions into her friend's system, watching her drift off into a much needed healing sleep. "It's not as if I didn't already have the same conversation with Severus this morning," she mumbled as she retreated to her office.

もうすぐクリスマス

Harry woke up to loud children's voices. "Look, a sheep!" a boy shouted, causing several other children to run around the stone wall and look at him in disbelief.

Harry jumped in fright when one of the boys suddenly pulled his tail. '_Owe_,' he thought and quickly scrambled to his feet, trying to get away from the children that looked about his own age. In spite of feeling absolutely awful, he managed to get onto the street and dashed along Diagon Alley with the group of boys on his heels.

"Get it," he heard a boy shout, and he once more felt that someone forcefully pulled his tail, before one of the girls chided the boy.

"Leave it in peace," she said softly. "It looks nice with its green eyes. Maybe it's hungry."

Harry threw the girl a grateful look and let out a miserable, "Bah," which sounded strange to his strangely clogged ears. After a short while of running away from the kids, he felt so miserable and dizzy that he quickly turned around at the Quidditch shop and hid in the shed, where he used to spend the nights, sighing in relief as he noticed that the children hadn't followed him.

Remembering that he still had two phials of potions in his robe pocket, Harry quickly changed into his human form and gulped down the potions, realising that they really seemed to help instantly. He felt slightly warmer, and the pain in his head and throat lessened. However, he noticed that he had problems breathing. Feeling not so dizzy anymore, he decided to take a walk through the alley in his human form. '_Maybe I can play with other children for a while or I'll meet someone, who takes me to a warm place for a few hours_,' he thought, curiously watching the people, who hurried through the alley for their Christmas shopping.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the energy to walk very far. Every few steps he had to gasp for air, and the snow that kept falling from low hanging dark clouds hurt his face as it made contact to his hot skin. '_I'll just return to the shed and sleep_,' he thought and turned around, only to walk straight into a huge figure clothed with red robes, a red hat and a long white beard.

"Father Christmas," Harry croaked in shock.

"Yes my boy. What are you doing here all on your own?" Father Christmas asked, smiling at him. However, his expression turned into concern as he took in the child's ragged breathing. He worriedly laid his big hand on Harry's forehead and gasped. "You are ill, my boy. Why are you running around Diagon Alley in your condition? Where are your parents?"

"Dead," Harry whispered, terrified. "I'm sorry, I'll..." He anxiously trailed off and tried to run away, panicking. '_I know that I'm a bad boy. Why the heck did I have to run into Father Christmas?_'

Unfortunately, Father Christmas held him in a firm grip. "You won't survive whatever disease you have if you run around the street in your condition," he said gently. "Let me take you to the St. Mungo's. It's not far from here, and they will be able to make you feel better in a few days' time."

Unable to get away from the hand that held his arm, Harry allowed Father Christmas to lead him towards the Leaky Cauldron, feverishly pondering how he could flee. Fortunately, shortly before they reached the Leaky Cauldron, the man's attention was drawn to a group of smaller children. While he gently talked to the kids, Harry used the chance of the moment to hurriedly transform into his sheep form and dash away as fast as he could. However, his condition didn't allow him to run very far, before he collapsed on the ground, gasping for air, unaware of the fact that a huge group of witches and wizards remained on the street, looking in disbelief at the sheep that was lying under the Christmas tree.

A few hours later, he woke up by a huge commotion, noticing in shock that there was a cameraman taking photos of him. He jumped to his feet and dashed away from under the tree, looking wide eyed at the woman, who was standing next to the cameraman, saying enthusiastically, "Oh, and such a cute sheep! Look at its green eyes!"

_tbc..._

_Thank you for your kind comments! I realise that everyone wants Harry to be rescued quickly, but we still have two weeks until Christmas (*evilly grins*)._


	12. December 12th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December12th**

Needless to say that sheep Harry once again made the front page of the Daily Prophet in these uneventful times. A huge colour photo displayed the dirty white sheep with emerald eyes standing in front of the Christmas tree.

Minerva McGonagall, who was still confined to the hospital wing together with her youngest colleague, tiredly let the paper sink. '_Lily's eyes_,' she mused, sadly remembering the girl, who had always been like a daughter to her. '_Why did she have to die so early instead of being able to properly raise Harry?_' she thought as she searched for a cool spot on her pillow to rest her achy head.

"Minerva, are you all right?" Severus croaked in concern, knowing that she used to read every single word of the newspaper before lying down again.

"Of course. I'm just a bit tired. I can as well read the Prophet later on," Minerva replied in an equally hoarse voice and closed her eyes. Soon, she drifted off to fevered dreams.

Minerva was standing at the window in her office, watching the Gryffindor Quidditch team practice. '_I hope they're going to win the Quidditch Cup this year_,' she thought, when all of a sudden a Bludger hit James Potter in the head, causing the boy to lose the grip on his broom. Minerva observed in absolute horror how the boy tumbled down towards the ground, before he suddenly changed into a reindeer and kept flying, pulling a huge sledge, which was occupied by the Headmaster. Albus was dressed as Santa Clause and was juggling Snitches.

Minerva was just wondering if he was using the Snitch of her House team as well, when she was brought back to reality by someone shaking her shoulder.

"Minerva, what's wrong?" Severus' concerned voice penetrated her ears.

"Ah, just a dream," she replied sleepily and blinked.

"Her fever is going up again," Madam Pomfrey said worriedly, before she shooed Severus back to bed.

'_James_,' Minerva thought, still captured by the events in her dream. '_Of course, he was a natural Animagus, although no one apart from his parents and me knew that, but he definitely was not a reindeer. He was a stag_.'

Before she could think further about the matter, she succumbed to the potion, which the Healer had unobtrusively spelled into her system, and drifted off into a much more peaceful slumber.

もうすぐクリスマス

Harry had spent the night in the broom shed as usual. He woke up when the door was cracked open in the morning, but he felt too miserable to even open his eyes and just remained where he was. Only in the afternoon, he became so thirsty that he had to leave his refuge, knowing that he had to find something to drink, before the shopkeeper would come and lock the shed for the night.

Diagon Alley was as crowded as it had been every afternoon, and Harry quickly searched for some untouched snow to eat, since he had no idea where he could possibly find water. The snow felt cool and soothing to his inflamed throat, and Harry sighed in relief when he felt the feeling of thirst recede. The fact that he hadn't eaten anything for several days didn't further bother him, since he was not hungry and it was not the first time in his life to go without food for a few days. Unaware of the glances of the people in the street, who shot him knowing looks, Harry retreated to his spot behind the stone wall next to Flourish and Blotts. '_I'll spend the night here_,' he decided, '_in case I get thirsty again. And if I don't feel better in the morning, I'll go to the apothecary again_.'

もうすぐクリスマス

It was late in the afternoon, when Severus woke up from a potions induced slumber. He slowly sat up, realising that he felt finally well enough to do so. Glancing at Minerva, who was finally reading her newspaper, he got a glimpse at the front page, from where well known eyes were staring at him.

"Lily," he gasped, shivering slightly as he felt Madam Pomfrey's cold hand on his forehead. "Minerva, that sheep must be Harry Potter. It has Lily's eyes."

Minerva let her newspaper sink in shock. "That could be true. Poppy, Severus is not delirious, right?"

"No," the Healer smirked. "His fever came down nicely. Lie down and follow his example."

None of the three colleagues noticed the figure in the shadow that had followed their conversation with interest and now quietly left the room.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews!  
_


	13. December 13th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December13th**

Harry stirred to someone calling his name. When he lazily opened his eyes, the world was turning around him badly. However, in the white mist that seemed to surround him, he could make out an old man with long purple robes and a long white beard. '_He looks like Father Christmas_,' Harry thought, yawning. However, he was suddenly wide awake when the old wizard asked, "Are you Harry Potter?"

'_Oh no_,' Harry thought in shock and tried to scramble onto his feet and dash away. However, he didn't come far in his weak condition and suddenly felt that he couldn't move anymore. Panicking, he tried to fight the magic that kept him stunned; however, before he could achieve anything, the world became black in front of his eyes. By the time he could see his surroundings again, which were blurry due to his high fever, he found himself in front of the Dursleys' entrance door. The strange old man was standing next to him. He pointed his wand at Harry and transfigured him back into his human form, before he rang the bell and vanished from the sight.

Hearing Petunia approach the door with the usual loud clacks of her shoes, Harry hurriedly transformed back into his sheep form and dragged himself away as fast as his condition allowed it. He slowly walked to the nearby park and let himself sink on the ground under a couple of bushes that saved him from the snow just a little bit. '_I loved Diagon Alley, and the people were all much nicer than the people here_,' he thought sadly as he drifted off to fevered nightmares.

もうすぐクリスマス

"You did WHAT, Albus?" Minerva shouted at the Headmaster in shock, before she ended up in a coughing fit that caused Pomfrey to glare at her.

"Calm down, Minerva, even if I have to agree with you," the Healer said firmly, before she turned to the Headmaster. "Albus, Minerva and Severus told you what they found out about the boy's home life, didn't they? Couldn't you at least give us the opportunity to check on him and to question him why he ran away in the first place? He must have had a valid reason if he preferred to spend day and night in Diagon Alley in form of a sheep."

"Headmaster, allow me to pay the Dursleys a visit and check on the boy," Severus said firmly.

"I'll go with you," Minerva threw in and swung her legs over the edge of her bed.

"You won't go anywhere with that fever you're still running, Minerva," Pomfrey said sternly, pushing her friend back onto the bed.

The Headmaster thoughtfully stroked his beard. "Is Severus allowed to leave, Poppy? If so, I will accompany you, Severus. I will exchange a few words with Mrs. Dursley."

"He may go and check on little Harry, but I want him back here in bed in two hours at the latest," Pomfrey replied firmly after quickly pointing her wand at the Potions Master's head.

"I'll see to it," Dumbledore promised.

Severus magically exchanged the hospital pyjamas with his clothes and followed the Headmaster out of the hospital wing, giving Minerva a calming nod as he left. The two wizards quietly walked down to the Apparition point and apparated to Little Whinging, arriving in the garden of Arabella Figg's house instants later. Severus inwardly groaned in annoyance as he once more stood in front of the Dursleys' door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Dursley," Dumbledore said in a friendly voice. "We came to check on little Harry."

Petunia threw the wizards a hateful glare. "Severus, I already told you that the freak vanished weeks ago," she hissed and made an attempt to shut the door in the wizards' face.

However, the Headmaster was quicker. "I brought him back early this morning; however, I just left him on your doorstep and rang the bell."

"No one was here when I opened the door," Petunia replied in obvious annoyance, causing Severus to glare at Dumbledore. "Apart from that I already told Severus that we're not willing to take that nuisance back."

"Why would he wait here to be let in, if he wanted to run away in the first place," Severus sneered. "Thank you Petunia. Bye." When the door was shut, Severus added quietly, "You can go back to the school, Albus. I'll search for him and take him to Hogwarts. He can't have gone far from here."

While the Headmaster apparated back to Hogsmeade, Severus strode along the street, until he came to a park on the right side. He slowly entered the park that was completely empty at that time of the day and let himself sink on one of the swings, noticing that sweat began to build on his forehead in spite of the fact that he was slightly shivering in the cold winter air. '_I'm surprised that Poppy let me go at all and that Albus finally allowed me to take Harry to Hogwarts. But where is he?_' he thought tiredly.

_tbc..._

_A huge thanks to Milliefluff, reader1writer1, Flamegirl5500, ILoveGeorgeEads, Clayva, wandamarie and Alifromm for their continuous support!  
_


	14. December 14th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December14th**

All of a sudden, something that looked like a huge pile of dirty snow caught Severus' eyes. '_A sheep_,' he realised. '_That must be Potter. I can't imagine that there would be other sheep running around this Muggle area_.' Severus strode over to the bushes, where the sheep seemed to be peacefully asleep, and called out, "Harry!"

The sheep did not show any reaction. Severus frowned. He carefully reached out and slightly shook the sheep's back, causing no reaction what so ever. '_Is he alive at all?_' he wondered, leaning closer to hear if the sheep was breathing, when the animal's laboured breathing could be heard. '_He must be sick from being out in the cold air all the time_,' he thought, regretting that he wasn't able to cast diagnostic spells. The only spell of which he was capable was to take someone's temperature, but since he had no idea how high a sheep's temperature was supposed to be, he decided to just take the sheep with him. He slowly pulled an invisible chain out from under his robes. Carefully pressing the animal's leg that was closest to him against the pendant, which was his emergency Portkey, he uttered the incantation. Seconds later, he found himself together with the sheep on the floor of the hospital wing at Hogwarts.

"Severus!" Minerva gasped. "Is that Harry? Is he all right? Shall I transform him back?" she croaked.

"Yes please," Severus breathed, holding on to the wall as he coughed harshly.

"Get into bed instantly," Poppy instructed him and gently led him back to his bed, before she turned to the small boy on the floor. Pointing her wand at the child, she let him float onto the bed on Severus' other side and instantly began to cast diagnostic spells. "He is suffering from the same kind of Muggle flu as the two of you; however, in his case it has become so bad that he caught pneumonia on top of it. He is dehydrated and has a fever of nearly forty-one degrees." She pocketed her wand and looked at the child.

"Harry, can you hear me?" she asked softly, only receiving a small moan in return. "Harry, everything is all right. You're safe at Hogwarts now, and we'll make you feel better in a blink." Seeing that the boy remained irresponsive, she quickly retreated to her office to fetch several devices and potions. With proficient movements, she connected the child to an I.V., before she turned to Severus and checked on him.

"Well, congratulations Severus. You just earned yourself at least another day in my care, not that I don't appreciate that you brought Harry here of course," she added and spelled several potions into the Potions Master's system, smirking contentedly as he drifted off to sleep.

"Minerva," Pomfrey finally said, sighing, "as you can see Harry is safe and everyone is asleep, so that you won't miss anything if you take a short nap as well."

"No Poppy, I need to discuss Harry's situation with Albus," Minerva disagreed. "You know that he's going to take the boy back to the Dursleys after his recovery."

"He won't," Poppy replied firmly. "I'm going to put up a huge fight with Albus if he doesn't see reason. "If he wants to send Harry back, I'm going to report the Dursleys to the Ministry of Magic for child abuse. I can't imagine that they appreciate Harry Potter being abused by his relatives. If you promise to stay in bed and rest, I'll go and speak with the Headmaster. In case any of you needs me, Helga will call me." She pointed to the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff that was overlooking the hospital wing from its space over Poppy's desk in her office.

"All right," Minerva agreed. "Good luck, Poppy."

The Healer returned to Harry's side and cast a more thorough diagnostic spell than earlier, making the results appear on a small parchment that emerged from the tip of her wand.

'_Age: seven years, four months, sixteen days__  
Height: 1.20 m (too small)  
Weight: 20 kg (much too light)  
Temperature: 40.8  
Ailments: Muggle flu, pneumonia, scars, bruises over forty percent of body, partly infected, improperly healed bones  
Overall condition: Poor_'

Madam Pomfrey grimly pocketed her wand and returned to her office to inform the portrait of the Founder where he was going and to share the results of her check with the ancient Healer.

"Poppy, you need to raise the child at Hogwarts and keep a close eye on his condition," Helga reassured her. "It is obvious that he must have suffered from neglect and abuse."

"I hope the Headmaster will see reason," Poppy sighed and stepped into the fireplace, resolving to poison his lemon drops if he didn't.

To her surprise, Professor Dumbledore was sitting in the chair behind his desk with his eyes closed, quietly sucking on a lemon drop.

"Albus?" she asked hesitantly, surprised that he hadn't even opened his eyes when the fireplace flared.

"Ah, Poppy," Dumbledore replied tiredly. "Is Severus already back?"

"Yes," Poppy replied, sighing. "He brought Harry to me. The child is very ill and has obviously been neglected by his relatives." She placed the parchment with her findings on the table in front of the Headmaster.

"I'm sorry, Poppy. It was not my intention to get the boy hurt at his relatives' home. We'll keep him here at Hogwarts, provided that one of our colleagues is willing to become his guardian." He reached into the drawer of his desk, producing a guardianship parchment, which he handed his colleague.

"Albus, are you feeling all right?" the Healer asked in concern, unable to believe that the Headmaster would agree so easily under normal conditions.

"I'm fine," Dumbledore replied, unconsciously rubbing his forehead, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the Healer's trained eyes.

She quickly placed a cold hand on the Headmaster's forehead, sighing in exasperation. "Well, you'll be the next on bed rest, Albus. Come with me to the hospital wing, please."

'_Let's say Harry was very lucky to arrive at Hogwarts at exactly the right timing_,' Pomfrey thought contentedly as she gently steadied the Headmaster on their way to one of the single rooms behind the hospital wing.

_tbc..._

_Thank you for your kind comments, and sorry for posting so late...  
_


	15. December 15th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December15th**

When Harry woke up, he noticed immediately that he felt much better, and he felt that he was lying on something really soft and comfortable. '_Where am I?_' he thought in surprise and curiously opened his eyes only to find himself in a very bright room with many beds. Several of them were occupied. '_This looks a bit like the infirmary at the primary school. I hope it's not the wizarding hospital. People would recognise me and take me back to the Dursleys again. I want to return to Diagon Alley. I just love the huge Christmas tree_.'

"Good morning, Harry. How are you feeling?" he suddenly heard a soft voice and looked up in surprise. A woman in white clothes was standing in front of him.

'_She looks as if she was a witch, probably a Healer_,' he thought as he let out an automatic, "Fine."

The woman eyed him critically and said, "I am Poppy Pomfrey, the Healer at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Snape, our Potions Master, found you near your relatives' home and brought you here."

Harry looked in shock at the Healer. "Will he take me back to my relatives?"

"No sweetie," Poppy firmly reassured the child. "You will never have to go back there if you don't want to. You may stay here at our school if you wish."

"I'd love that," Harry replied happily, anxiously closing his eyes when he saw the Healer wave her wand over him. '_Hogwarts_,' he remembered the name. '_The nice man at the apothecary asked me if I was already at Hogwarts, so this must be a good place to be_.'

"You don't have to be frightened, Harry. I'm merely checking on you. You are very ill and need to stay here in the hospital wing for a few days, before I can release you from here," the Healer said in a friendly, calming voice, smiling at him.

'_Thank God I don't have to run away again, because I really like it here_,' Harry mused, reflecting that everyone at Diagon Alley, who had helped him, had been very nice. However, he always had to flee because he had to fear that people might recognise him and take him back to his relatives.

もうすぐクリスマス

Later that day, Minerva was allowed out of bed and spent a while sitting on the edge of Harry's bed, reading an old children's book. When Harry lazily opened his eyes, taking in her figure with surprise, she talked to him in a quiet voice and told him that she was the Transfiguration teacher and had already taught his parents.

From Minerva's tone and the way she talked to him, Harry somehow felt that the old witch liked him and cared about him. Knowing that his uncle had forbidden him to talk about his situation at home, he barely answered her questions; however, he willingly explained how he had spent the last two weeks in Diagon Alley, before he once more succumbed to the potions, which Madam Pomfrey had unobtrusively spelled into his system, and drifted off to sleep again.

Harry woke up later on, feeling soft fur touch his cheek, and when he opened his eyes in confusion, he saw white fur right next to himself. '_What's that? A sheep in my bed?_' he wondered as he hesitantly touched the soft fabric, noticing that it was a plush sheep.

"I hope you like it," Minerva said softly, looking up from an old tome she was reading. "If you prefer any other animal, I can transfigure it. You just have to tell me."

"Oh no, thank you," Harry replied in confusion, wondering, '_Why is that sheep in my bed though?_'

Realising that Minerva wasn't going to explain anything else, he asked hesitantly, "Excuse me, Professor, but why...?" He slowly trailed off, uncertainly running his hand over the soft fur.

"It's for you, Harry. I thought you might want a toy animal to cuddle with," Minerva replied in surprise. "You aren't too big for a cuddly toy now, are you?"

"For me?" Harry asked in disbelief, causing Minerva to inwardly curse the Dursleys once again. "Thank you so much, Professor. I love it." He pulled the sheep close and happily cuddled it.

"There is something else for you from Professor Snape, although I think that you have to catch up a bit, considering that it's already the fifteenth of December," Minerva continued and handed Harry the Advent's calendar, which Severus had diligently made for him earlier when Poppy had left them unsupervised for an hour.

Harry laughed happily as he looked at the design. The picture showed the Christmas tree in front of Flourish and Blotts at Diagon Alley, and a sheep with green eyes was slowly walking around the tree, taking something that looked like small frogs from the branches, eating them with gusto. "This is too funny," he chuckled. "Is that me?"

"Oh well, I still have to find any other sheep with green eyes," the Scottish lioness replied, smiling, and explained that the frogs were made from chocolate, just like those inside the calendar. "Why don't you try one? They're delicious."

Harry hesitantly glanced at the bed on his other side, in which the other professor seemed to be fast asleep. '_I need to thank him when he wakes up_,' he mused. '_This is just unbelievable_.' Totally overwhelmed by the two first presents he could remember having received ever, he hesitantly opened the flap with the number one written on it, pulling out a small, colourful box that held a chocolate frog and a card."

"The packages with the chocolate frogs always contain a card with a famous wizard or witch on it," Minerva explained gently. "Many boys and girls in the magical world collect them."

Harry grinned as he looked at the picture, from where an older witch looked at him and smiled. "That's you, Professor," he said. "I think the chocolate frog is for you then."

Minerva realised in surprise that Harry indeed held a card with her picture in his hand and dazedly accepted the chocolate frog. "Thank you, Harry. I didn't even know that there was a card with my picture."

During the rest of the evening, Harry couldn't take his eyes from the Advent's calendar. "I love that tree, and I love Diagon Alley and the magical world," he mumbled tiredly, before he drifted off to into a much needed healing sleep that was so deep that he heard nothing of the commotion around him that took place later in the evening.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments.... I hope that I'll be able to get back to replying to your comments soon! Oh, and a special thanks to JB5391 and JWOHPfan - I can't believe that I forgot to mention them the other day (sorry)!_


	16. December 16th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December16th**

Harry woke up when it was still dark to hushed voices right next to his left side.

"Poppy, I tell you now that I'm not going to stay here with the room full of dunderheads," a voice that he recognised as that of the kind professor, who had made his Advent's calendar for him, hissed.

"And I tell you now that you're going to remain here," the Healer replied sternly. "If your fever doesn't go up again until lunchtime, I'll release you. Until then, you may sit with Harry if you prefer that to resting in your most comfortable bed."

Hearing the professor snort, Harry thought, '_This bed is very soft and warm. I've never felt so comfortable before_.' He lazily opened his eyes, seeing that the Potions Master sat on the chair that Minerva had occupied the previous day.

"Good morning, Harry," Severus said in a soft, baritone voice.

"Good morning, Professor. Thank you so much for the Advent's calendar. It's terrific," Harry said quickly.

"You're welcome. Since you made it to the front page of the Daily Prophet three times by getting lost in the zoo, running around Diagon Alley as a sheep and charming the Christmas tree during the night, I thought I had to make a picture of the scene," Severus replied, smirking. "Now Harry, you're very lucky." Seeing that the boy threw him a confused look, he continued, "Professor Dumbledore, our Headmaster, was the one to place you with your relatives, and we, Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and I, expected that it would take a huge fight to convince him letting you stay with us at Hogwarts. However," he smirked again, "according to Madam Pomfrey, he caught the Muggle flu from us and was too unwell for a discussion; so he already handed her the guardianship papers. Professor McGonagall and I... If I can manage to get away from here," he whispered, glancing around to make sure the Healer was not nearby, "will go and get your aunt's signature this afternoon, so that one of us can become your guardian, if that's what you want."

"Yes sir, I'd love that. Thank you so much," Harry replied gratefully and hesitantly began to answer a few apparently harmless questions Severus asked about his life with the Dursleys.

もうすぐクリスマス

By the time Harry woke up the next time, Severus was gone, but to his surprise, he realised that every bed in the hospital wing was occupied. '_That's what the professor was talking about in the morning. I was so engrossed in my conversation with him that I didn't realise it earlier. What happened?_' he wondered, busily cuddling his soft sheep.

"Hello. Who are you? Are you a first year? You seem very young," suddenly a voice talked to him from his right side.

"Hello, I'm Harry," he replied shyly. "I'm not a student here. I'm only seven."

"Hi Harry. I'm Oliver, a first year Gryffindor. We had a huge crash yesterday evening," the boy explained. "I was allowed to play together with our Quidditch team, because I love to play and I'm said to be a good Keeper, although first years are not allowed on the team. Anyway, five of us managed to crash into each other, and then I finally found myself here with a few broken ribs."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Harry said, terrified. "That must hurt a lot."

"No, it doesn't. Madam Pomfrey is a very good Healer, and everything is already as good as new. She's just keeping me here for a day, but I hope she'll let me go in time for dinner. Have you ever played Quidditch?"

"Quidditch?" Harry asked in confusion. '_The shop with the broom shed, where I always slept, was called 'Quidditch Supplies' or something like that, but...._' "Does it have to do something with brooms?" he finally asked, causing Oliver to dive into a long monologue about this wonderful sport.

"And people really fly on brooms?" he asked incredulously.

Oliver laughed. "Yes Harry, they do, and it's fantastic. I'll take you flying when Madam Pomfrey releases you, okay?"

"Yes please," Harry replied eagerly. As much as he had hoped the Healer would keep him for ages, so that he wouldn't have to return to the Dursleys so soon, he now wished to get out of the hospital wing as fast as possible. '_Flying really sounds like a lot of fun_,' he thought, '_and Oliver is very friendly, like all the people I met at Diagon Alley, except for the old man with the long beard_.'

もうすぐクリスマス

A few hours later, the man with the long, white beard was suddenly standing next to Harry.

"How are you, my boy?" the old wizard asked kindly.

"Fine," Harry replied anxiously, looking around to see if Madam Pomfrey was nearby.

Unfortunately, no one was there, not even the students, who had previously been occupying the beds next to him, and Harry began to panic, especially as the old wizard began to speak. "If you're already fine, I'll ask my colleagues to take you back to your relatives. It is important that you return there as soon as possible."

'_He must be the Headmaster Professor Snape told me about_,' Harry mused, '_but I thought it was already clear that I could remain here at the school_.'

Harry sighed in relief when Madam Pomfrey showed up and scolded the Headmaster for running around the hospital wing. "You're supposed to be in bed, Albus, and if you don't go back immediately and stay there, I'm going to use a stunning spell."

With that the Headmaster took his leave, throwing Harry a mischievous smile as he went.

_tbc..._

_Sorry, I just had to throw in the old coot once more *grins*. Thank you so much for your kind encouragement - I really appreciate it!_


	17. December 17th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December17th**

After their last afternoon class, Minerva and Severus once more stood in front of the Dursleys' home, grudgingly following Petunia into the house for what seemed to be going to become an unpleasant discussion. However, five minutes later they were back.

Minerva looked at Severus with amazement. "Severus, how did you do that? It took us two minutes to get the signature. How in the world did you manage to coax Harry into telling you these things you came up with to threaten Petunia? He evaded every single question I asked about his relatives."

"I'm not a spy for nothing," Severus replied, smirking. "Oh well, shall we return to Hogwarts? After being sick for most part of the week, we probably should make an appearance at dinner."

"Yes, but only if you tell me what the charm was that you cast on Harry's old cupboard."

"Hmmm, you're probably going to feel sorry for Petunia..." Ignoring Minerva's snort, he continued, "That was a charm, which deflects Harry's magic remaining in the cupboard into the form of a ghost, which is bond to Petunia. She won't be able to get rid of his ghost."

"Well done, Severus. That serves the bitch well. Believe me, I'd even award House points for that if I could," Minerva replied, smiling contentedly.

もうすぐクリスマス

Harry, who had spent most part of the day sleeping or reading in the book '_Hogwarts: A History_,' which Minerva had left on his night table with the intention to read to him, looked up happily, when the two teachers entered the hospital wing.

"Harry, do you feel well enough for a short walk?" Madam Pomfrey queried. "Professors McGonagall and Snape would like to take you with them to dinner and show you a bit of the school afterwards."

"May I?" Harry asked in surprise, and a huge smile spread over his face at the Healer's nod.

"I want him back here in two hours at the latest, and don't tire him out too much. He is not completely well yet," the Healer said firmly, smiling as she observed Harry walk between her two colleagues, hesitantly accepting Minerva's invitation to slide his small hand into hers, while he was cuddling his sheep in his other hand.

'_It's snowing_,' Harry mused in surprise as the professors led him into the Great Hall, '_but the snow doesn't reach the floor. Someone must have cast magic at the ceiling like I did with the Christmas tree. Strange that it isn't much colder in here, if there is no roof over the Hall_.'

Noticing that he couldn't turn his eyes from the ceiling, Minerva explained gently that Rowena Ravenclaw had charmed the ceiling to look like the sky outside.

"Oh, I read about that in the book," Harry remembered. "I just didn't understand what it meant. Magic is so cool."

"Harry, since you're new to the magical world, I am sure that there will be many things, which you don't understand. In that case, feel free to come to one of us and ask," Severus said gently. "You may ask as much as you want."

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied happily and hesitantly took the offered seat between Minerva and Severus at the Head table.

Due to the Headmaster's absence, Minerva introduced Harry to her colleagues as well as to the students. "Although Harry is only seven years old, he is going to live at Hogwarts from now on, because one of us is going to become his guardian. Please leave Harry in peace."

"... If you don't want your limbs to be used as potions ingredients," the Slytherin Head added grimly, and everyone, who might have nursed thoughts about doing anything to the small boy, quickly dismissed their thoughts.

"He is much too young to attend classes though. What are you going to do with him during the day?"

Harry looked at the teacher, who had spoken in a high, childish voice, noticing that the man was very tiny and sitting on a huge pile of cushions. '_Is that a dwarf?_' he thought in surprise, when Minerva's answer caught his attention.

"Severus, Poppy and I decided that our house-elves, Cicero, Misty and Malcolm, should teach Harry Primary School knowledge," Minerva explained, before she calmingly laid her hand over Harry's. "Don't worry, Harry. All three of them are very kind, and they love children, especially Misty."

"Thank you," Harry replied gratefully. '_I hope they're as nice as Lisa, Tom's house-elf. I liked her very much_.'

"Harry, did you eat enough?" Severus spoke up in a stern voice, raising an eyebrow. "You're not at the Dursleys here, and you should eat as much as you can, because you're much too skinny."

"Yes sir, thank you, but I'm really full," Harry replied in a small voice, slightly shivering at Minerva's cold touch. He didn't realise that the two teachers on both sides of him exchanged a concerned look, but he gratefully stood up, when the Potions Master rose from his seat and motioned him to follow him back to the hospital wing.

"We'll see how you feel tomorrow. If Madam Pomfrey deems you well enough, we'll show you a bit of the castle after our last afternoon class," Severus promised as he gently tucked Harry in and called the Healer, who bustled into the room, muttering to herself about stubborn old Headmasters being nearly as bad patients as Potions Masters.

Severus and Harry exchanged an amused look, and Severus mind thought to Harry, '_Be a good boy for her; otherwise, she'll never forgive you. She remembers everything_.'

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind support! I'm glad you liked the story so far :-)_

_P.S. Just a short notice on my other stories: I am getting more and more flames (in reviews and PMs) from people who complain that I am not updating my other stories (never from my normal, kind reviewers, so I'm not talking to you here). Please note that I have been sick for weeks now (and still am), have lots of work to struggle with as well as two children, who need me. At the moment, I am not able to write anything except for my daily story "Lord of the Wind", which I can barely manage to continue daily. Everything else I am posting has already been written weeks or even months ago. I won't abandon my other stories, and as soon as I can I will update. Maybe on or after Christmas, but I can't promise anything.  
_


	18. December 18th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December18th**

Harry woke up to loud voices and lazily opened his eyes, realising that he felt much better, nearly back to normal even.

"Albus, the blood wards failed the instant Harry ran away from the Dursleys," Madam Pomfrey said in a firm voice. "Apart from that, the Dursleys have already resigned from the guardianship, and I'll tell you something. I will not allow you to choose anyone as his guardian. Due to his escapades of the last weeks and the neglect by his aunt, Harry's general condition is not good at all. In fact, I expect him to become sick every now and then, and he needs to live at a place, where he can get medical help at anytime. I believe that you owe Harry to allow him the choice of his new guardian."

'_She is standing up to the Headmaster for me_,' Harry thought in disbelief and amazement, feeling very grateful towards the kind witch. '_But to let me choose... Maybe the tall Potions professor. But I like the cat professor too, and the Healer is very nice as well. That's difficult_.'

"Good morning, Harry. How're you feeling?" Pomfrey's voice suddenly penetrated his ears.

"Much better. Thank you so much for making me all better," Harry replied gratefully.

"I'm glad to hear that," the Healer said, smiling. "Your lungs aren't completely free yet, and you're still running a slight temperature. Therefore, I won't release you yet, but you may go with Professors McGonagall or Snape when they come to fetch you."

"Thank you," Harry said, relieved. "I can't wait to see more of the castle."

"Do you feel up to accompanying me to the Great Hall for lunch?" Pomfrey queried, throwing him a sharp look.

"I'd love that," Harry replied happily and smiled when the Healer transfigured a tissue on his night table into warm, green robes that exactly matched his eyes.

"Or do you prefer blue, hmm?" Poppy asked gently, causing Harry to smile.

"I like whatever you choose for me. These are great. Thank you."

もうすぐクリスマス

When Harry and Madam Pomfrey walked behind the Gryffindor table, Oliver turned around to face the Healer and asked, "Madam Pomfrey, I promised Harry to take him flying as soon as you release him. Will he be allowed to fly some time this week?"

"Definitely not today, but maybe tomorrow," Pomfrey said thoughtfully. "Harry, would you like to have lunch here at the Gryffindor table with Mr. Wood and his friends?"

"That's a good idea," Oliver agreed, noticing that Harry seemed to be very shy. "Come Harry, sit with us."

Harry hesitantly agreed and slipped into the seat Oliver and his friend had just vacated for him. The conversation at the Gryffindor table mainly revolved around the winter holidays and Quidditch, and Harry listened with interest, feeling slightly disappointed upon hearing that nearly everyone was going to return home for Christmas in two days' time.

もうすぐクリスマス

After lunch with the students, which Harry enjoyed immensely, he slept through the afternoon, until Professor McGonagall came and offered to show him the castle. She led him to the Astronomy tower, the Transfiguration classroom and the library, which amazed Harry so much that they spent the time until dinner skimming the huge bookshelves.

"Do you like to read, Harry?" McGonagall asked, smiling.

"I love to read," Harry said eagerly and admitted how he had spent his time at Diagon Alley sitting in the bookshop reading.

"Well then, let me introduce you to Madam Pince, so that you'll be able to borrow books from here whenever you want," Minerva said, smiling and waved the librarian over.

"Do you want to have dinner at the Gryffindor table again, or would you prefer sitting with us?" the Scottish lioness asked gently as she led Harry back to the Great Hall shortly afterwards.

"Hmm, I'd love to sit at one of the other tables, but I don't know anyone except for Oliver," Harry replied hesitantly, looking anxiously at the tall professor.

Minerva remained thoughtful for an instant, skimming the House tables for a student, with whom she could entrust Harry, before she suggested, "Why don't you sit at the Hufflepuff table then? I can introduce you to Ms. Tonks. She is a fourth year student and a very nice girl."

Harry happily sat at the Hufflepuff table, noticing that the students were as nice as those at the Gryffindor table had been earlier. With surprise, he listened to their conversation, which mostly revolved about the Christmas presents they intended to give to their parents and siblings. '_Maybe I should have given Christmas presents to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, but how should I have done that? Whenever I painted something, Aunt Petunia threw it away_,' Harry mused and was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts that he nearly jumped, when Severus' voice penetrated his ears.

"Mr. Potter, are you ready to leave?" Severus queried, walking behind the Hufflepuff table.

"Yes sir," Harry replied quickly and politely thanked the students for allowing him to have dinner with them, before he hurriedly left the Hall behind the professor, who was striding ahead with his robes billowing behind him.

"For breakfast, I shall introduce you to a few Slytherin girls, who will surely love to fawn over a young boy," Severus smirked, using the distraction while Harry threw him a disdainful look to closely study the boy, before he continued, "I believe that we should go to the hospital wing for your next dose of potions, and if you feel well enough afterwards, I'll show you my favourite spot at Hogwarts apart from my potions lab."

Unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey deemed Harry not well enough and put him back to bed. Knowing better than to protest, Harry obeyed, tiredly listening as the Healer explained to the Potions Master, "After lunch tomorrow, Mr. Wood wants to take him flying, but afterwards you may take him with you. Just don't tire him out too much, so that he'll be able to attend the Leaving Feast in the evening."

'_I wonder what his favourite spot is. Mine is the library so far… oh no, the Great Hall? Hmm, I don't know. I just love Hogwarts_,' Harry mused as he slowly succumbed to sleep.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments! I really appreciate them! Anyone wants to guess what Severus' favourite spot might be?_


	19. December 19th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

_This chapter is dedicated to kittyfiction2008 - She was the only one, who guessed (almost) correctly! Congratulations!_

_---_

* * *

_Poppy steps in front of Professor Snape. "Severus, tell me now, what is your favourite place right after your potions lab. The lake?"_

_Severus lets out a snort. "No normal thinking teacher would call a place, which is an attraction point for dunderheads, their favourite point. Oh well, perhaps people like Lockhardt." He raises an eyebrow at the Healer. "Ask Harry, Poppy. He'll be able to tell you tonight. I must go and take him there." With that he turns on his heals and strides away with his robes billowing behind him, rolling his eyes at the mere thought of relaxing next to the lake with Gryffindors trying to hex each other next to him._

_Poppy chuckled, thinking, 'Well, my favourite spot is the lake, especially during the holidays.'  
_

* * *

**December 19th**

In the morning, Severus fetched Harry in time for breakfast and introduced him to his Slytherin first years like he had promised in the evening. Unbeknownst to Harry, who was enjoying the meal at his House table greatly, he observed Harry and his surroundings closely to make sure everyone was nice to the small boy.

After breakfast, Harry spent some time with Poppy in her office. The Healer told him many interesting stories about Hogwarts and about the time when she had been a student, together with Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch, the flying instructor.

'_Being a student here must be a lot of fun_,' Harry thought, chuckling, before he asked if he could help, when Pomfrey began to clean her potions shelf.

"No, thank you, sweetie, but I don't want you to do anything like that." She remained thoughtful for an instant, before she said, "I know what we're going to do. Do you want me to introduce you to the house-elves, who are going to teach you after the holidays?"

"Oh yes please," Harry agreed eagerly and smiled, when Misty, Malcolm and Cicero popped up in front of them.

Poppy introduced the three elves to Harry and allowed them to take him with them to the elves' quarters, where the three elves spoke with Harry about what they were going to teach him from January onwards, before they invited him to have lunch at the elves' quarters and introduced him to a few smaller elves that were of his age.

"We must teach you to pop like an elf, and then you cans comes and play with your friends in their free time after class or on the weekends," Misty said gently as she popped Harry back to Poppy's office later on.

Harry thanked the kind elf profusely and grudgingly obeyed when Poppy made him lie down on his bed and take a nap. He woke up when Poppy gently shook his shoulder and asked if he wanted to go flying with Oliver for a while.

"Yes of course," he said eagerly, throwing the Healer a grateful smile when she transfigured his clothes into a warm snowsuit. It was held in dark red and blue tones, and small, white sheep where running around everywhere.

"Harry, if you're tired or unwell or don't want to fly anymore, you must tell Mr. Wood and he will take you back. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Madame," Harry promised and happily left the hospital wing with Oliver for his first ride on a broom.

To his surprise, Madam Hooch was on the grounds as well and handed him a broom with a huge smile on her face. However, before she could even instruct him how to summon the broom and sit on it, Harry was already flying.

"Oh my, he is a natural flyer just like you, Oliver," Hooch said, smirking, as she observed the colourfully dressed child fly. "Would you like to play with a Snitch?"

"Yes please," Oliver replied and sped up to reach Harry. He showed him the Snitch, causing Harry to frown.

"I have such a ball as well, but where is it? It must be in my robes in the hospital wing. How do you play with it?" he asked eagerly.

"You must search for it," Oliver replied, smirking, and released the Snitch. "It's difficult to see against the grey sky though."

The two boys eagerly skimmed the sky for the small, golden ball; however, it took nearly an hour, before Harry finally spotted it and dashed over to the opposite side of the pitch, closely followed by Oliver, who could fly faster than the seven-year-old but was kind enough to let Harry catch the Snitch, because he had been the one, who had spotted it first.

"Very well done, Harry," Madam Hooch commended him, and a huge smile spread over Harry's face.

"I love to fly," he said happily. "Thank you, Oliver."

"You're welcome, Harry. You're a good flyer. I'll take you flying again after the holidays."

"If you want to fly, we can arrange something even during the holidays," Madam Hooch promised and sent Harry back to the hospital wing, knowing that her good friend Poppy was very protective of the child and would be worried if he didn't return soon.

もうすぐクリスマス

After being forced to rest for a while in the Healer's office, where he was offered hot cocoa and Christmas biscuits, Harry was allowed to accompany the Potions Master to what he called his secret place.

Severus led the small boy down to the dungeons and into his private quarters, noticing that Harry looked around the living room with apparent amazement.

"I thought the dungeons would be a dark place, but this room is very bright, and I love that the whole room is surrounded by bookshelves. I like this room," Harry said shyly.

Severus smirked. "The room is so bright because of the charmed windows between the bookshelves, and as a professor you need to have many books. Apart from that I like to read. That's why there are so many books," he explained uncharacteristically patiently. "But this is not what I wanted to show you." He led Harry through a small hall that ended with the painting of a cauldron. As soon as Severus touched a small bunch of herbs that were being added to the cauldron, the painting moved sideways, opening the way to a small herb garden with a fountain and benches around neat flower beds in the middle.

"This is the teachers' garden," Severus informed Harry and led him to one of the doors at the left side of the one that led to his own quarters. He opened the door, and Harry could see a narrow, old staircase.

'_Where are we going?_' Harry wondered as he followed the Potions Master upstairs.

The narrow staircase seemed to drag on infinitely, before they finally stepped out into the fresh air, only to find themselves in a huge garden on top of the roofs of Hogwarts.

'_Wow, this is really high_,' Harry mused as he looked around in absolute amazement. They were surrounded by small towers and parts of the roof. The garden seemed to stretch out over a large part of the castle's roof. One part of the garden seemed to be an herb garden, the rest was just grass. '_It's cold here though_,' he realised.

"I suggest that you transform into your sheep form. You'll be much warmer then," Severus said, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"Yes sir, if that's all right with you," Harry said hesitantly and, seeing the professor nod, hurriedly changed into his sheep form, sighing in relief as the warm wool shed him from the icy wind.

"I hope you don't mind me transforming as well," Severus said in a soft voice. "I can assure you that I am completely harmless." With that the tall man transformed into a white leopard.

=Harry, can you understand me?= the leopard queried.

=Yes, but why?= Harry asked in confusion. =Why can a sheep understand a leopard?=

=Because we're magical animals,= the leopard informed him. =Come with me, little one.=

The sheep followed the leopard through the garden, until the leopard stopped walking and waved his head to the left. Harry looked in the direction and let out an amazed gasp. '_I can see very far_,' he thought as he took in the snowy landscape in amazement.

=Do you see the blue parts at the horizon?= the tiger queried. =That is Loch Ness. I assume that you know it from Muggle books.=

The sheep nodded. =Wow, this is absolutely gorgeous,= Harry said in admiration. =Thank you so much for bringing me here.=

=You're welcome,= Severus replied in a soft voice. He had often regretted that he didn't know the garden when Lily and he were still students. =Only the teachers know about this place, and hardly any of them ever comes up here. Don't speak about it with anyone else, if you don't want me to use your limbs as potions ingredients.=

=I won't, sir,= Harry promised, chuckling. '_I hope he'll take me up here again some time. I love this place_,' he thought as he let his eyes wander over the wide Scottish landscape. '_It was good that I ran away from the Dursleys and ended up here at Hogwarts. I'm the luckiest boy in the world_._'_

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments and the interesting guesses :-)_


	20. December 20th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 20th**

When Harry woke up and lazily opened his eyes, he was suddenly wide awake upon realising that the Headmaster was sitting on a chair next to his bed.

"Good morning, Harry," the old man said, and his eyes were twinkling happily.

"Good morning, sir," Harry replied hesitantly as he anxiously glanced around to see if anyone else was there. With relief he noticed that Madam Pomfrey was bustling around her office and would hear him if he shouted for her.

"I believe that I owe you an apology," Dumbledore said gravely. "When I placed you with your relatives, it was meant to be for your best and not for you to become harmed. Will you forgive an old man?"

"Yes sir," Harry replied in a barely audible voice. "May I remain here, sir?" he added timidly.

The Headmaster let out a long sigh. "Yes, my boy, you may stay at Hogwarts, provided that at least one of my staff members becomes your guardian. I suggest that you choose two persons as your new guardians."

'_Whom should I choose_?' Harry thought feverishly. '_I hardly know them, and I'm definitely going to be a burden to them_.' "Um… Excuse me, sir, but it is so difficult, because they're all so kind and nice. Would it be possible to choose three?"

Dumbledore and Pomfrey, who had just noticed that Harry was awake and came out of her office, laughed. "Yes, my boy, you may also choose three guardians. In that case, I suggest to name one of them your guardian and the other two your godparents," the Headmaster said gently.

"Whom would you like to choose?" Pomfrey asked kindly.

"Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall and you," Harry replied softly, smiling at the Healer, who shot him a surprised look.

"Very well then," the Headmaster agreed and rose from his chair. "Poppy, please make sure that Severus takes over the guardianship and makes you and Minerva Harry's godmothers. I am sorry, my boy, but I have huge piles of work to do now that Madam Pomfrey finally released me. I'm sure you will understand only too well." With that the old wizard took his leave.

"Albus, don't even think about it. It's time for breakfast, and we're going to meet you in the Great Hall in five minutes," Poppy replied sternly, causing Harry to chuckle.

"Now what is so funny, young man?" the Healer asked, waving her wand over the child, before she sat on the edge of his bed. "Harry, we will try to become better guardians than your relatives were. But you must promise to trust us and tell us if you have any problems."

"Thank you, Madame," Harry replied gratefully.

"And please call me by my given name, at least when there are no students nearby. I am Poppy."

Poppy and Harry were just about to leave the hospital wing, when Minerva and Severus showed up to fetch the boy. The Healer quickly filled them in about Harry's choice of guardian, and Severus suggested, "I could take him to the Ministry of Magic to complete the change of guardianship after seeing the students off at the station. I need to go to the apothecary for a few ingredients anyway. Should we ask the elves to make a room for him, which is connected to all our living rooms?"

"Severus, that's a good idea," Minerva said warmly and called Malcolm.

"Yes, Mistress Minerva, we will makes the room for Master Harry right away," the elf confirmed and left with a small pop.

もうすぐクリスマス

A few hours later, Harry was walking along Diagon Alley together with his new guardian. He happily looked at the Christmas decorations and at the Christmas tree, which he liked so much. '_The cauldrons and cats I made are still there_,' he thought in surprise.

Severus smirked. "We'll ask Professor Flitwick if you may help him decorate the Christmas tree for the Great Hall. I'd love to have cauldrons on that tree as well. Normally, we only have twinkling stars and sleeping cats."

Harry laughed aloud. "All right, sir. If you can manage to talk the professor into letting me help decorating, I'll add cauldrons to it."

"Very well," Severus said with amusement. "Now I need to buy a few ingredients. Be careful and don't touch anything when we're in the shop. Anything you can see might be dangerous."

"Yes sir," Harry replied, feeling a bit annoyed to feel treated like a five-year-old. '_I'm already seven_,' he thought. However, he realised in shock that they just entered the apothecary, the one, where he had worked in order to get potions just two weeks ago. '_Oh no. I just hope the man won't recognise me_,' he thought, terrified, as he tried to hide behind Severus' robes.

However, Mr. Rodney recognised Harry right away and greeted him gently. "You look much better than when we had the pleasure to meet the last time," he said and told Severus about Harry's visit and how he had helped him preparing ingredients. "You are his guardian?" he asked in surprise.

"Well yes, since this morning," Severus replied, smirking.

"Congratulations, Severus. Your ward is very adept at brewing. Teach him and he'll become a good Potions Master."

"We'll see," Severus replied, quirking an eyebrow.

もうすぐクリスマス

Back at Hogwarts, Severus led Harry into his private quarters. "I suggest that we take a look at your room. Maybe Poppy will allow you to stay in your own from now on instead of the hospital wing, even if it's empty now that almost everyone has returned home."

"I'd love that, sir," Harry replied eagerly and looked at the room in amazement. It was kept in several different blue tones and held a huge comfortable looking bed with a small night table, a wardrobe, a desk with a chair and even a huge bookshelf. His stuffed sheep was sitting on the bed. There was no window in the room, but the ceiling was charmed to look like the sky, and the room was very bright and flooded by sunshine coming in through the ceiling. "This room is absolute gorgeous," he blurted out. "Is that really for me?" He smiled as his eyes fell on his Advent's calendar that was placed on the night table, leaning against the wall.

"Would you like a chocolate frog, sir?" he asked, searching for the number 20. "Over all the commotion I forgot to open it this morning."

Severus politely declined, pointing out that he could keep the chocolate frogs and eat them whenever he wanted.

"All right," Harry agreed and placed the small box on his bookshelf next to '_Hogwarts: A History'_, which he had received from Minerva a few days ago.

Right next to the bookshelf where two doors, and Severus explained that they led to Minerva's and Poppy's quarters. "I suggest that you use the bathroom in my quarters, which is just next to the door that leads to your room. Perhaps you should go and take a hot shower to warm up after spending so much time out in the cold."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir," Harry replied gratefully and hesitantly stepped into the bathroom, wondering if the water was ice-cold or burning hot like it alternately had been at the Dursleys. However, to his huge surprise and relief, the water had exactly the right temperature, and he enjoyed his shower very much, feeling very refreshed and cosy warm afterwards.

When he left the bathroom, Severus called him over into his living room. "Harry, we're going to have dinner here in our quarters tonight. We thought that you might like to be together with just the three of us in order to get to know us a bit better." He stepped through Harry's room into his colleagues' living rooms and called Minerva and Poppy, while dinner popped up on the table in his small dining kitchen.

'_I really like that_,' Harry thought happily. '_I'm so glad to have so nice guardians_.' He was pulled out of his thoughts when Poppy announced that she would leave the castle until Christmas Eve in order to visit her sister now instead of over Christmas, so that she wouldn't miss Harry's first Christmas at Hogwarts.

"But you don't have to stay here over Christmas because of me," Harry said, terrified.

"I want to spend Christmas here, now that I have a godson," Poppy replied, smiling, "and since you're finally back to health, I'll spend some time with my family before that."

'_I should make a Christmas present for each of them_,' Harry remembered later on, when he was lying in his new bed and looked at the charmed ceiling. He observed in awe how clouds passed by, revealing twinkling stars. '_But what could I make for them?_'

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments. I appreciate them very much! Seeing that fanfiction net has trouble sending out alert mails, I will try to post this story at about the same time every morning (between 9 and 10 am. CET / 8-9 a.m. in Britain / sometime before 4 a.m. in the US), so that you'll know that it is updated, even if you don't receive your alert mails.  
_


	21. December 21st

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 21st**

Harry couldn't remember to have ever slept in such a comfortable bed, and when he woke up it was already light. '_Oh no! I hope they won't be angry, because I slept so long_,' he thought anxiously and quickly scrambled out of bed. He had just exchanged his pyjamas with his clothes, which someone had laid out on the chair for him, wondering who had bothered to nicely arrange his clothes, when Minerva entered the room.

"Good morning, Harry. I take it that you slept well. Will you come over to my room for breakfast?" she asked gently.

Harry gratefully agreed and had breakfast together with Minerva, wondering where Severus was. '_I just hope they haven't all changed their holiday plans just because of me_,' he thought worriedly.

"Harry, is something wrong?" Minerva asked gently, causing Harry to tell her his concern.

"No Harry, Severus and I were going to remain at Hogwarts anyway, because we don't have any living family apart from you. And if you look for Severus and can't find him, you can be sure that he is in his potions lab. However, you must be careful and always knock until he calls you in, because otherwise he might threaten to use you as potions ingredients."

"I believe that," Harry agreed, chuckling. "I'll be careful not to disturb him."

"Whom are you not going to disturb?" a baritone voice suddenly penetrated his ears. "Harry, would you like to brew something together with me?"

"I'd love that, sir. However, I have never brewed anything before. I can cook, but…"

"Harry," Severus interrupted him gently. "I have known Mr. Rodney since my days at Hogwarts. He was a fifth year when I entered Hogwarts. He never praises anyone, if not for a valid reason." He quickly turned to Minerva and told her what he had heard from the apothecary.

"Well, Lily was very adept at Potions too, wasn't she?" Minerva asked thoughtfully.

"Yes indeed," Severus replied shortly, turning on his heels.

Harry threw Minerva an anxious look, but the older witch merely smiled in apparent amusement at her colleague's antics and motioned for Harry to follow him. "I'll see you at lunchtime, Harry," she said gently.

However, it was late in the afternoon when the two wizards realised in shock that they had completely forgotten about lunch or such profane things, when they were engrossed in brewing fruit drops and chocolate ginger drops for Harry's godmothers and the other teachers.

Severus noticed soon that Mr. Rodney had been right and Harry was indeed very adept. "If you're interested in brewing, I could teach you after your and my classes," he suggested thoughtfully as he set his potion aside to let it simmer for a few minutes.

"I'd love that," Harry said enthusiastically. "I love to brew. It's so…soothing?" he said, unsure if that was the right word.

"Yes it is," Severus reassured him. "However, I suggest that we clean up here now and have something to eat. Otherwise, Minerva will have my head for starving you."

"I'm not hungry at all," Harry replied in a small voice. "Could we perhaps…" He slowly trailed off, unsure about how to tell his guardian what he badly wanted to do.

"Hmm? Could we what?" Severus queried, quirking an eyebrow.

"I'd like to go back to Diagon Alley once more to thank the people, who helped me, and perhaps give them some fruit drops too," Harry whispered.

"All right, we can do that," Severus replied, glancing at his wrist watch. "Shall we go tomorrow morning? It's quite late today, and it's already getting dark."

"Okay. Thank you, Severus," Harry said happily.

"Very well then, let's put these into forms first then. I'm not overly hungry either," Severus said and showed Harry how to make drops out of the liquids that they had brewed.

Apart from dinner together with Minerva in their quarters, the two wizards spent the rest of the day in the potions lab, and when Minerva tucked Harry into bed later on, the child was absolutely exhausted but very happy, and the teachers observed contentedly how a small smile played on his lips as he drifted off to sleep.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments. Oh and by the way, Advent's calendars are very usual in Germany, have always been :-)  
_


	22. December 22nd

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 22nd**

When Harry woke up, he remembered happily that Severus had promised to take him to Diagon Alley once more. '_I hope they'll all like the drops I brewed_,' he thought in excitement as he slipped out of his bed and got ready for breakfast.

Severus was already sitting at the table in his small kitchen and motioned for Harry to sit down and eat his breakfast. "I'd prefer to go to Diagon Alley as early as possible, because I'm sure it will become very crowded in the afternoon," he said as he poured himself another cup of tea.

"Yes sir," Harry agreed and munched a bowl full of cornflakes with milk, noticing that it hurt to swallow. '_My throat is a bit sore_,' he thought, terrified. '_I just hope I won't get sick again so soon_.'

もうすぐクリスマス

"Considering that we want to go to the Leaky Cauldron, I suggest that we take the Floo," Severus said thoughtfully. "Have you ever used the Floo? Probably not, hmm?"

"No sir. Excuse me, but what…?"

Severus explained patiently about the Floo network, before he motioned Harry to step into the fireplace together with him, not wanting to take the risk of losing his ward on the way to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Harry!" Tom exclaimed in surprise. "I'm glad that you're safe. I was so worried when you ran away as sick as you were at that time."

"I'm sorry for running away," Harry replied softly. "And thank you very much for looking after me." He handed Tom a small bag of fruit drops, before Tom called Lisa and Harry spoke with her as well.

もうすぐクリスマス

Madam Malkin was not at home, but they found her at her shop, and she looked as pleased as Tom, Lisa and Mr. Rodney upon hearing that Severus had taken Harry in.

"Seeing that we're just here and you are in dire needs of clothes, we will do some shopping," Severus decided and asked Madam Malkin to measure Harry and prepare a certain amount of clothes for him.

Harry observed the quickly growing pile of clothes in disbelief, unaware of the fact that Severus made further arrangements with the kind witch. Finally, Madam Malkin was done and informed them that Harry's robes would be ready in an hour, and Severus and Harry decided to pick them up after visiting Mr. Rodney.

もうすぐクリスマス

The apothecary presented Severus with a list of potions. "I was just going to owl you, Severus," he said, sounding very relieved. "Could you brew a few potions for me? Considering that you have a young assistant now, you shouldn't have problems with your schedule," he added, smiling at Harry, who returned a smile and handed over his present.

"Harry, would you like to assist?" Severus asked later on when they were on their way back to Hogwarts.

"Yes sir, I'd like that," Harry replied, trying to feign enthusiasm at the thought in spite of feeling not all too well. His throat was still sore and his head had begun to pound badly.

"Very well, but I believe we should eat something first," Severus said after a glance at his wrist watch. "Harry, if you're hungry, you must tell me, because I tend to forget eating meals."

"Yes sir, but I'm not hungry anyway," Harry replied softly as he obediently sat at the kitchen table.

"Still we have to eat something. What would you like to have?" Severus queried before calling Cicero.

"May I just have something to drink?" Harry asked quietly. '_Perhaps I should tell him that I don't feel well, but what if he just realises that I'm a burden and cancels the guardianship matter, so that I still have to go back to Aunt Petunia?_' he mused, terrified at the thought. Totally engrossed in his miserable thoughts, he completely missed that Severus was talking to him.

Severus observed the child in concern, noticing that his eyes looked glazed over and beads of sweat were making his hair stick to his forehead. He quickly rose from his seat and stepped around the table.

Harry looked up in surprise when the Potions Masters cool hand found its way to his forehead, and he couldn't help shivering slightly at the cold touch.

"Harry, you're ill," Severus stated in a soft but surprised voice. "Why didn't you tell me that you're feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine," Harry replied barely audibly, causing Severus to raise an eyebrow at the child and pull his wand.

"No Harry, you're clearly not fine," he said firmly, pointing his wand at the boy's head. "You have a fever of 38.8 degrees." He let out a long sigh. "Harry, I don't know what your aunt exactly told you, but it's not your fault if you get sick. It happens and then you just have to tell Poppy, Minerva or me, so that we can try to make you feel better quickly. Now let's put you to bed."

Feeling too bad to protest, Harry allowed the professor to lead him into his room and put him to bed. "Stay put and wait a moment. Since I don't have any Healing experience, I'm going to call Poppy." Seeing that Harry threw him a horrified look, he added, "I'm not going to take any risk, considering that you just recovered from a bad case of pneumonia, and Poppy will be able to help you get better quickly."

Harry merely let out a miserable sigh. '_But she is on holidays_,' he thought, terrified. '_She'll hate to come back just because of me_.' He was on the verge of drifting off to sleep, when he heard soft voices next to him and cracked his eyes open once more, seeing Minerva and Severus talk quietly, while Poppy waved her wand over him.

"He caught a respiratory tract infection," Poppy informed the others. "Give him the potion for bronchitis every four hours and a fever reducer only if his fever exceeds thirty-nine degrees. Keep him in bed as long as he has a fever. I think he should be fine by Christmas Eve." With that Poppy turned to him and made him drink two potions. "Get well, little one. We want you to be healthy on Christmas, so that you can enjoy your first Christmas." She leaned down and brushed a kiss on his forehead, before she turned back to the adults. "Call me if you need me. I don't mind coming back at any time."

Already drifting off to sleep, Harry felt that someone sat on the edge of his bed, but he couldn't make out if it was Minerva or Severus. '_It feels good to be cared for, and I'm already much better_,' he thought, before he began to dream of Santa Clause placing chocolate frogs on a Christmas tree.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments :-)  
_


	23. December 23rd

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 23rd**

When Harry's mind slowly turned to awareness, Minerva was sitting on the edge of his bed. "Good morning, Harry. How are you feeling?" she asked softly.

"Better," Harry croaked. "May I please get up? Professor Flitwick promised that I could help him charm the Christmas tree in the Great Hall."

"I don't think that you're already well enough to get up, but let's see if your fever came down," Minerva replied, astonished. "I only came here an hour ago. Until then Severus looked after you during the night." She picked up a thermometer from the night table and coaxed it under Harry's tongue. "It's a magical thermometer; it won't take long," she said soothingly, noticing his discomfort at the cold touch of the glassy device.

Mere seconds later, the device flared orange, and the numbers 38.5 emerged from its end. "No Harry, I'm sorry, but you can't get up yet. I'll ask Professor Flitwick if he can wait for you. Maybe you'll be able to decorate the tree tomorrow. That's still early enough," Minerva said softly as she took the thermometer back and gently helped Harry into a half-sitting position, so that he could take his potion.

"No sweetie, don't lie down right now. You need to eat something first," she informed him firmly.

"I'm not hungry," Harry said miserably.

"But you still need to eat something in order to get back to health as soon as possible."

"Aunt Petunia never gave me anything to eat when I was sick," Harry mumbled, causing Minerva's face to take on an angry expression.

"Harry, your aunt did a very bad job raising you," she said softly. "If you want to be better tomorrow in order to work on the Christmas tree, you have to eat at least some soup or a bowl of fruits or a piece of toast, if you prefer that."

Harry finally managed to eat a few pieces of fruit, before he lay down in exhaustion and drifted off to sleep mere seconds later. During the rest of the day, Minerva and Severus took turns staying with him and trying to make him feel better. Harry was drifting in and out of sleep, but whenever he was awake, Minerva read him from '_The Tales of Beedle the Bard'_, and Severus told him about potions ingredients.

By the time the three of them had dinner together in Severus' small kitchen, Harry was feeling much better and had the impression as if he had learnt a lot about the magical world as well as about potions ingredients during that day.

"Harry, what do you think Father Christmas is going to bring for you?" Minerva asked with interest, while Severus made sure that Harry ate all of his carrots.

Harry looked up, horrified. '_I better tell them right away_,' he decided and began to explain in a barely audible voice, "Father Christmas never brought anything for me, because I'm not a good boy. And now…" He tried hard to force down a sob, but it still managed to escape from his lips, "… now Father Christmas will be very angry at me, because I ran away from him at Diagon Alley, when he wanted to take me to St. Mungo's." He fiercely bit his lower lip in order not to let out any more sobs of desperation, so that he missed the look his guardians exchanged.

"Harry, please listen to me," Severus was the first to speak up in a stern but friendly voice. "You are a good boy. You did nothing wrong, and Father Christmas knows that. He knows everything. Therefore, he must know that you ran away for a very valid reason."

"Exactly," Minerva threw in gently. "I am sure that you will receive presents from him this year."

"Very well, good boy. It's time for you to go back to bed," Severus smirked, finishing the conversation.

'_That was a study day in spite of being sick_,' Harry chuckled to himself as he lay down in bed again later on and Severus gently tucked him in for the night. "Will I be able to help Professor Flitwick with the Christmas tree tomorrow?" he asked softly, noticing in relief that it didn't hurt to speak anymore.

"I think so, Harry. Good night," Severus replied in a soft voice and brushed a kiss on the boy's forehead, before he settled down in the chair next to Harry's bed with a Potions journal, unbeknownst of the fact that Minerva was observing the scene from the connecting door to her quarters with a huge smile on her face.

_tbc..._

_Thank you very much to the kind readers, who regularly make my day by their wonderful comments!  
_


	24. December 24th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 24th**

"May I help to charm the Christmas tree?" was the first thing Harry asked when he woke up in the morning.

Minerva smiled and carefully brushed an errand strand of hair from his cheek. "Harry, you're not one hundred percent well yet, but you may get up and assist Professor Flitwick after breakfast, provided that you tell us immediately if you feel worse."

"I will," Harry promised reluctantly. "Do we really need to eat breakfast first?"

Minerva threw him a sharp look. "Yes Harry, you must eat something. Do you want to eat in Severus' quarters, or shall we go to the Great Hall?"

"Only the three of us in Severus' quarters please," Harry replied in a small voice. In fact, he was not too eager to meet the Headmaster, who would surely be present in the Great Hall now that he had recovered from the flu as well. '_Maybe I'm being unfair_,' he mused as he took his seat at the kitchen table. '_The man apologized to me, but I still don't trust him completely_.'

もうすぐクリスマス

"Harry, how nice of you to help me this year," Professor Flitwick cheered when Minerva and Severus accompanied their ward to the Great Hall. "I saw your other tree in the Daily Prophet, and it was beautiful. Therefore, I suggest that you charm the tree first and I'll only do some fine tuning afterwards.

"Thank you, sir," Harry happily agreed and set to work. He sat on a nearby chair and looked intensely at the tree. '_At first, we need some snow_,' he mused, gladly registering that it began to snow over the tree. '_And now we need cauldrons_.' Another intense glare brought small silver cauldrons onto the branches. Colourful ingredients popped in only to bang out in small fireworks, before they took on their original state and slowly moved back into the cauldron. '_This is really exhausting_,' he thought, noticing that his headache was back full force.

"Harry, I believe that was enough magic for the moment," Severus' soft voice suddenly penetrated his ears as the Potions Master knelt in front of him, eyeing him in apparent concern.

"Yeah, I'm a bit tired," Harry said miserably. "But I still need a Snitch and the cats that are playing hide and seek on the branches."

"Oh well, let's see if we can assist you for a change," Minerva smiled and conjured a Snitch along with a dozen tabby cats that were sitting on the branches.

"I wonder if they will be able to catch it," Professor Flitwick said, chuckling, and all of a sudden, the cats were jumping up and down the tree, trying to catch the Snitch that merely flapped its golden wings and continued its flight around the tree.

"Oh, that's brilliant, Professor," Harry said happily, looking at the tree in amazement as the teachers added a few twinkling stars. "I love this tree. It's absolutely gorgeous."

All of a sudden, the Headmaster entered the Great Hall and pulled his colleagues into a short conversation, before he as well admired the tree. "Very well done, Harry," he commended the boy, and Harry noticed that the old wizard's eyes were once again twinkling merrily.

"Thank you sir," Harry replied in a small voice, still unable to take his eyes off the tree.

"Well, it's time for lunch," the Headmaster announced and took his seat at the Head table, motioning for everyone else to sit down as well.

"Severus," Harry whispered, unobtrusively pulling his guardian's sleeve.

"What's wrong, Harry?" the Potions Master whispered back kindly, giving the boy a piercing look.

"I'm a bit tired, and my head hurts," Harry hesitantly admitted.

"All right then, let's return home, so that you can rest for a while," Severus decided and quickly informed Minerva, who accompanied the two wizards back to Severus' quarters, where the adults made Harry eat a small bowl of chicken noodle soup, before they motioned for Harry to lie down on the sofa and take a nap.

By the time Harry woke up, feeling very refreshed, Poppy had joined them as well, and Harry and his new family spent the rest of the day in Severus' living room, where the adults took turns reading from an old children's book, '_Christmas Eve at Diagon Alley'_.

'_This is the best Christmas ever_,' Harry thought, '_and even if Santa doesn't bring me any Christmas present, I already received the best present I could have wished for_.'

_

* * *

tbc..._

_A huge thanks to the kind readers who like this story enough to review! I wish you a very Happy Christmas. _


	25. December 25th

******Harry's Sheepy Advent's Calendar  
**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_------_

* * *

**December 25th**

On Christmas morning, Minerva and Severus insisted that they had to eat breakfast in the Great Hall. They made Harry sit between them and realised contentedly that Harry seemed to be fully recovered and tucked in with gusto.

"I'm sorry, but you have to excuse me. I have an appointment with the Minister of Magic," the Headmaster excused himself, while everyone was still having breakfast.

'_I really need to relax in his presence. He won't take me back to the Dursleys. Severus, Minerva and Poppy are my official guardians now_,' Harry thought as he let his eyes wander over the Christmas tree. '_The house-elves put the presents under the tree_,' he realised, wondering if everyone would like the fruit drops and chocolate drops he brewed and what Severus would say to his picture. '_Thank God Minerva allowed me to draw the picture when I was stuck in bed and Severus was asleep that morning. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had time to make any present for him_.'

All of a sudden, one of the entrance doors opened, and Father Christmas entered the Great Hall. Harry made himself as small as possible, faintly hoping that Father Christmas wouldn't see him. '_I should have returned to my room_,' he thought, pondering if he could transform into his sheep form. However, he dismissed the thought, knowing that his guardians wouldn't approve of such a method. Father Christmas handed each of the teachers and the few students, who had remained at Hogwarts over Christmas, a present, before he finally turned to Harry.

"My dear boy, I am so sorry, because I somehow must have forgotten you during the last five years." With that Father Christmas placed five large, colourful presents on the table in front of Harry. "I hope this will make up for the time, and I wish you a very Happy Christmas."

"Thank you so much, Father Christmas," Harry replied in a thin voice, looking at the presents in disbelief.

While everyone turned back to eating their breakfast, Minerva and Severus suggested that Harry should unpack his presents. In the first present, which was wrapped by orange paper with small grey cats running after a thick book that tried to get away from their grip, he found a pile of books – introductions to all the subjects that were taught at Hogwarts.

"Wow, this is absolutely gorgeous," Harry blurted out happily. '_So much to read, and everything looks so interesting_,' he thought, wondering where he should begin.

"Very well; here are more presents," Severus reminded him, smirking, and pushed the blue package with the twinkling stars over to Harry. The present held a huge package with clothes. He found several sweatshirts with funny text on them like '_I like Potions, but only to brew them'_ and every kind of clothes he could even imagine.

"Well, maybe the next one is more interesting," Poppy laughed from the opposite side of the table, motioning for him to open the green present that was decorated with a silver cauldron, in which a light yellow potion was simmering, before it exploded and wrote on the paper, '_Happy Christmas'_.

'_A Child's Potions Kit_,' Harry red the inscription, throwing Severus a questioning look.

"Well, this contains your own cauldron and everything else that you will need to brew easy potions. We can try it out later on," his guardian explained gently, causing Harry to throw him an eager nod.

A long, purple package held a children's broom, and everyone observed in amazement how Harry's eyes began to twinkle happily as he eyed his newest possession.

"May I go flying afterwards?" he asked Minerva, who smiled and nodded her head.

"Yes, we can go flying together," she promised, before she pointed her wand at her tea spoon and transfigured it into a Snitch, which she handed Harry. "Make sure that you don't let it get away inside the castle," she instructed him gently.

The last packet, which was a wooden box with holes on one side, held a tiny black cat with bright, orange eyes. Harry looked in amazement at the small animal, before Hagrid, who was sitting next to Poppy, motioned for him to take it out of the box.

"It is a magical lynx. A magical lynx is as small as a normal cat, but because is magical, you'll be able to communicate with it, if you bond with it or if you're in your magical sheep form. It's only six weeks old," the half-giant explained gently. "Cicero knows how to care for him, and you can come to me at any time, if you need help."

Harry carefully took the small animal out of the box and hesitantly cuddled it close, noticing that the lynx apparently didn't mind the close contact and purred contentedly.

もうすぐクリスマス

Only when Harry and his guardians returned to their quarters, Harry realised that he didn't have time to open his Advent's calendar in the morning. With a huge smile on his face, he took the last chocolate frog out, noticing with surprise and amazement that the card held a photo of Severus as the best Potions Master Britain had ever seen since Salazar Slytherin. '_Now I have cards of Minerva and Severus. I love my sheepy Advent's calendar_,' he thought happily, '_and this was the best Christmas ever_.' Cuddling the small lynx close, he thought, '_It's cool that Father Christmas brought me so many presents, but my best present is that I have a real family now and the best home ever_.'

**The End.**

_Happy Christmas to all of you and thank you for your kind support throughout this story!_


End file.
